Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai Episode 8 Discussion

This gets a bit much to process - with the information. I hope it will slow down a bit next episode. If someone that read the novels had not mentioned about not being able to transform during night I would not have been able to correctly process this when they shouted to wait for dawn. When the gardener tried to hide and then started to fly away.

Also that guy got dealt with way tooo fast. Hopefully they will focus more on the northern princess (that seems a bit unstable mentally cause she loved that guy but the family maybe forced her to marry the prince/king) now. Not directly move to the next thing.

Didn't know about the female in the beginning the prince met with (where he claimed to the others that he was just a messenger ... they did not seem to know his face) - someone in another forum mentioned that she was from the south. (Some people really amaze me on how much they remember. Or they must do research. :D)

The older brother - being forced to go to the monastery - feels a bit like an Uesugi Kenshin lol.

Caught up with the last 4 episodes, this is riveting stuff. It deserves way more attention and discussion.

- Who is the lady with "pockmarks" that was speaking with the Prince disguised as a messenger?

It makes the most sense that it's Asebi's older sister, i.e. the first daughter of the East, but was that mentioned anywhere in this episode? I'm only assuming this because I vaguely remember Asebi being sent to the capital because the actual candidate fell ill.

They did not put a caption on the establishing shot of the place ("Eastern Palace," or something), which is strange and feels like a mistake on the studio's part. It was also confusing because when the lady showed her face, there was zero resemblance with Asebi; she looked similar to Hamayuu, which made the confusion worse.

The other option could be the lady of the South who should've been sent to the capital instead of Hamayuu (the "secret" of Hamayuu's that Shiranami mentioned?).

- Who was the intruder and what did he want?

I really don't think that was Kazumi.

A) we never saw the intruder's face or heard him speak
B) the way he got found out and killed was too stupid; this man dares to sneak into Sakura Palace, where the future empress and other noblewomen are staying and where no man is even allowed to enter, and he walks down the wrong wing of the palace? Kazumi got a good aerial view of the palace earlier and even spotted Shiranami herself
C) the guards killed him way too quickly, they absolutely knew who he was; if they knew it was a lover just trying to see Shiranami, they wouldn't have summarily executed him; they probably would've made him suffer or made an example out of him, and other houses would've tried to use this incident to have Shiranami kicked out
D) the Prince would not place his trust on a spy who would stumble into the wrong room and try to escape in exactly the way the guards have predicted; unless the Prince already knew he wasn't the brightest and let him walk into his grave

I guess it could still have been Kazumi, but not for the reasons we think. He may have been on a mission or had some other ulterior motive, which the guards (and whoever's pulling their strings) had some prior knowledge of and had reasons to kill him for.

If it wasn't Kazumi, then I expect him to be some fall guy that we haven't seen before. But I think he was actually targeting the Western princess and therefore was at the right place, from the way he ended up right in front of her nose.

He could've been there for any number of reasons. Possibly to assassinate her, but I'm somehow doubtful, from the way he immediately ran. It would be cruel irony if the assassin was hired by the North, because this incident became the thing that broke their candidate's mind.

It's even possible he was hired by the West, her own house (with or without her knowledge), to "spook" her and cause a scene, allowing the West to point fingers at other houses. They could've promised the "assassin" a safe getaway beforehand and then actually set him up to die. But this feels like such a high-risk play that's not even guaranteed to give them an edge.

But actually I'd be OK if we never find out, other than the fact that it was/wasn't Kazumi. The palace intrigue is supposed to feel paranoid and endlessly murky, and the important thing here is Shiranami may have snapped.

I had a feeling Kazumi was the intruder, and instead of finding Shiratama he accidentally stumbled into Masuho’s room. The way she reacted like she had a psychotic break after seeing the dead corpse definitely triggered SOMETHING.
It’s really such a shame, I’m sure Kazumi and Shiratama would have been very happy together.
Last episode it was stated that she was adopted, right? Was it for the sole purpose of having a woman who could potentially marry the Prince?

The fact that Samomo is the one who died definitely makes Asebi seem suspicious, but the fact that she’s being suspected right off the bat makes it seem like that’s not what’s going on after all.
I figured Shiratama was the more likely suspect, but given the light this episode painted her in, and the interesting relationship between her, Kazumi, and Hamayu, I wonder if that’s actually the case. Masuho hasn’t really appeared in any of these situations, so I’m beginning to wonder if her hands are actually clean in all of this. (I hope not, I really like her)
Now that I think about it, what if the intruder wasn’t really Kazumi at all? They never said his name or showed his face.

As someone who is up to date, while I will not spoil, I can’t wait for you to catch up :)
You’re gonna love it. The writing in this anime is spectacular