rhodrymavelyne

I know I’m completely obsessed with Seraph of the End when I read a historical account of Edward II and his cousin, Thomas of Lancaster and find myself comparing them to Krul Tepes and Ferid Bathory. This is not Thomas B. Costain’s fault, but his book, The Three Edwards brought back a lot of memories of Chris Hunt’s historical novel, Gaveston. I often wondered if Hunt used Costain’s book as a reference material. He came up with a very interesting explaination for why Edward disliked his cousin so much. When they were young, Thomas tried several times to force himself upon Edward, professing to be utterly smitten with the prince’s beauty, to have fallen madly in love with him. Lancaster’s true love, however, was power. His lustful eye never left the throne of England, even while it was fixated upon his cousin’s golden beauty.

This made me think of Ferid’s professions of devotion for Krul Tepes, the vampire queen. Ferid claims to be smitten with her, yet what he truly lusts for is Krul’s power. Both Lancaster and Ferid are taken with their sovereign’s beauty, yet questioning that sovereign’s place on the throne, challenging their sovereign’s power. Both Edward II and Krul taunt and look down their noses at this ambitious suitor, spurning them for a favourite.

In Edward’s situation, the favourite is Piers Gaveston. In Krul’s, it’s Hyakuya Mikaela. Both Edward and Krul invest quite a bit of power and attention in this favourite, sparking off jealousy in their other subjects.

Another curious parallel is the spurned suitor torments, yet fancies the favourite. Lancaster confesses that he always wanted Gaveston and Ferid makes no secret of his desire for Mika. One might argue that favourite was both Edward and Lancaster’s downfall in Gaveston. Was Mika Krul’s? Will he become Ferid’s as well? Mika did distract Krul at the crucial moment which both Crowley and Ferid took advantage of.

It will be interesting to see how far this parallel will play out. It’s not a perfect one. For instance, there’s an important emotional element to the equation in Seraph of the End, Hyakuya Yuichirou. After all Yu is Mika’s major motivation while Gaveston’s is more enigmatic. One might argue the latter’s actions were dictacted by glory and pride. Everything he obtained was to bolster up both, whether it was lands, titles, or favours from his adoring king.

This is the motivation Thomas B. Costain gives Piers Gaveston in The Three Edwards, but is that his only one? Much as I enjoy Costain’s writing, he plays favourites and Gaveston isn’t one of them, even when he’s trying to be fair. At the same time, he has little good to say of Thomas of Lancaster other than he was a dangerous man to cross. Nothing Costain writes contradicts the dark picture Chris Hunt painted of him. It’s a contradictory love Lancaster expressed for his prince, which has me drawing this parallel between him and Ferid Bathory.

Where does lust for their monarch’s beautiful person end and lust for their powers and possessions begin? It’s a complex relationship and array of desires, caught up in the hierarchy of their respective societies.

I also marvel at the parallels which occur to me when I’m obsessed, yet I think both Hunt and Kaguya-sensei struck on a common theme of the lust for power being bound up with the person in power. Certain themes recurr again and again across genre and in different themes of story.

It never fails to fascinate me when one catches my eye.