Episode 357

[m]

While reading my Dark Horse copy of volume 40, something caught my attention that I hadn't noticed before: it could be that transformed apostles can't travel through the World Spiral Tree. From puella's translation:

Griffith: Prepare for a full withdrawal and gather at the foot of this hill in two lines tomorrow in the early morning. Demon soldiers should be back to their human form and wearing their equipment.
Soldier: Yes?

Sonia: He's right
Sonia: Since he won't be able to pass like that.

Dark Horse translated Sonia's lines as "True. They'd get stuck, in that form".

As usual, puella's translation is the one that should be trusted, but I wonder how Dark Horse arrived at their translation, what they meant by saying that they'd get stuck and why they decided to use a plural when puella's translation clearly tells us that it's a singular. I also wonder what Sonia meant by "he won't be able to pass like that". She seems to be talking about Grunbled. Is it then, just a matter of size? Seems unlikely, given that all apostles were asked to revert to their human form (unless all apostles in the campaign were big enough to not fit). Perhaps transformed apostles simply can't travel through the tree for some reason?

 

[Aazealh]

I also wonder what Sonia meant by "he won't be able to pass like that". She seems to be talking about Grunbled. Is it then, just a matter of size?

Yes. She just means that Grunbeld would be too big to pass through the archs in his apostle form. There's nothing deeper going on.

Seems unlikely, given that all apostles were asked to revert to their human form (unless all apostles in the campaign were big enough to not fit).

Do you think Griffith should have instead individually named the ones that would have been too big, after assessing each of their respective size, to ask them to not transform, while letting the others do as they want? Does that sound plausible and smart to you? Also, people were supposed to focus and not lose sight of who's before them, so it makes sense to have them in their human form and at a reasonable size to avoid distractions. Lastly, they were going back to Falconia, so being in their human form and wearing their armor was also preferable.

 

[m]

Yes. She just means that Grunbeld would be too big to pass through the archs in his apostle form. There's nothing deeper going on.

Good to know! I guess Dark Horse’s translation confused me.

 

[Aazealh]

Good to know! I guess Dark Horse’s translation confused me.

No problem. Also, don't fault Dark Horse for using plural instead of singular. The Japanese language allows for a lot more leeway than Western people sometimes understand when it comes to subjects, objects, singular, plural, gender, etc. That's part of why it's so difficult to translate properly.