_{(Originally posted on Tumblr on January 13th, 2026. Minor edits included.)}

I haven’t done one of these character analysis posts in forever. This was supposed to be a series dedicated to characters with little lore to go on but enough to discuss but I have now expanded that to more characters like “Psychologist” and Patient. I also have a rather lengthy one on Fire Investigator. I hope to do more in the future so stay tuned for that!

Regardless, this time it’s Richard Sterling’s turn and hopefully he won’t be the last of this “series” of mine. But where should we begin? Well, the obvious answer is his sister, of course, but before that, I wanted to take a moment to look at his room music.

Disclaimer:

I wanted to preface this post by saying that this is all just my speculation and thoughts. After some previous incidences involving Richard where I was sort of dragged for not knowing some obvious things about him, I want to say that I did my best to read through his lore amongst other things.

Still, there will be guesswork involved here and there as he is a fairly new character. If I get something wrong I apologize. Anyways, let’s actually get started.

Pt. 1 Richard’s Sanctuary

_{“Richard’s Sanctuary” – Oh yeah, the imagery is obvious with this one. Interestingly, I believe the statues of the ladies are his sister…which seem obvious (totally knew that the first time *ahem*)}

I don’t think people talk enough about the room music aka EPs that come with a character upon their release. As I understand it, it’s a really new phenomenon that only started with Evelyn. I myself only listened to Richard’s EP just the other week and I must say that it adds a layer to his character that is overlooked.

It states rather obvious facts such as “Nursery rhymes in childhood memory // Defining the kind of person we should be // Hold my sword tight and guard the oath // Repeatedly twisted me // Who’s telling lies?”

Clearly showing us again how the nursery rhyme of his childhood influenced him since the start to be the knight who guards the princess while quelling any conflict that arises.

For those that don’t know the nursery rhyme, it’s actually part of his first deduction note (and not the song you hear sung in his trailer apparently): “The knight forever follows the princess forever fearless. Together, they journey far, shadows forever clinging close.”

A rather sweet nursery rhyme but one that Richard unfortunately took too seriously as we see in his behavior towards his sister. But wait! I’m still not ready to talk about her.

_{We’ll get to you soon, my dear.}

Instead, let’s take a look at another stanza from the EP: “Walking through the end of the curtain // Playing chess to map out a way to run // Under the impression of the missing son // See the world falling down in my cunning eyes.”

Another obvious one, we know Richard is the instigator of conflict within his family when it came to causing discord against his parents while also bullying the staff and sowing seeds of conflict amongst the other children. This was not done out of just cruel maliciousness but to also rise as the bringer of light and be the knight he was meant to be. 

And again, when you look at his debut essence which is actually a continuation of Frederick’s “Dragon Hunter” essence just 100 years later. In Richard’s time, the last dragon has been slayed and thus a period of peace time flows over the land bringing with it peace and prosperity. And yet, to our knight, he knows this peace will not or cannot last as he witnesses at the fringes of peace that humanity will once again fall into practices of greed, jealousy, and desire. 

Thus, when he sees the perfect moment to reignite the flames of war in order to take the stage once again as a knight of legend, Richard takes it whole-heartedly.

_{“Declarations of eternal peace often lead to desolation and decay. The sword-bearer’s conviction intensifies, understanding that a hero’s worth is often forged in the fires of war and strife.” -From Red Knight’s cosmetic description.}

He needs to keep the conflict, this glorious war going and disregard what peace will give them—nothing but superficial serenity that threatens to crumble under even the smallest weight of conflict along with the threat of being forgotten by history.

Richard whole-heartedly believes that his worth and identity is tied directly to emerging as a hero only in times of war and strife. If no such thing exists, he is nothing and will be quickly forgotten. Because his whole worldview seems to center around the notion: it is only when one is pitched in the deepest darkness can the light shine the brightest.

I’m not joking. This man is that immersed in his roleplay as a knight that at this point, fiction has merged into reality. Actually no, it is his reality. Simply because it’s the only life he has ever known. 

This is not just in the essence but in the OG canon lore as well, naturally. And Richard doesn’t just see himself confined to his role, but his sister as well. Let’s take a look at his EP again: “I don’t know who I am // I don’t know who she is // But I know we can’t escape from the obstruction of predetermined fate.”

This man seems as if he’s suffered an identity crisis his whole life and frankly, he has. Because who is he? While there is plenty of evidence to show he isn’t the real Richard (which I’ll discuss a little bit later), we don’t know who this imposter is and perhaps he himself doesn’t know either. 

_{Apparently being a knight is his heart’s calling.}

Richard’s life has been rewritten by whoever dropped him off with the Sterlings since he was only 7. Actually, scratch that. The Sterling twins were kidnapped at the age of 4 years old. While the sister was returned soon after (God knows how soon—could’ve been 3 days or 3 months later), Richard stayed missing for 3 years. Now, this could mean his imposter was given the chance to practice his role as this missing son for a whole 3 years…or less. 

Regardless, even if we just want to stick with this imposter learning how to be Richard Sterling and the knight from the children’s nursery rhymes, he was still a petite 7 years old. Some of us don’t even know ourselves that well as teens, young adults…I mean, Christ, the term “mid-life crisis” exists for a reason (and that’s when you’re usually in your 40-50s). 

People are so focused on pushing their hate and vitriol onto this imposter Richard for being an awful person who is easy to dislike and while I understand why they do it, it blinds them to the more subtle and quieter aspects of his character that gives him more layers than the pure black image he conveys.

I noticed they used the word “gloomy” to describe Richard here. In addition, a little note of Richard being seemingly lost in thought often while troubled is interesting. To be honest, I’m a little stumped on exactly why he would be troubled/lost in thought but still notable.

Brief COA IX Intermission

_{Official Chibis of Richard in his COA IX and original cosmetics.}

I’ve seen a few people talk about this already but the way Richard feels quite different in COA is also of note. I remember being like, why does he feel off to me? Only to realize that COA Richard hardly smiles (in the trailer at least). OG Richard always has a soft smile on his face but he really only does so as it’s part of being a proper “knight.”

_{He certainly does not feel like the gentlemanly knight he portrays in the canonical storyline in the COA Funny Moments video.}

I also thought of this moment in his trailer when it shows Richard watching the kids fighting (instigated by him no doubt) yet he looks so disinterested at first (lol) until he notices his sister watching from her hiding place. Then, and only then does he break into a smile.

Perfect segue to go back to the EP as I will finally drag his “sister” into this. In his EP, she is mentioned in his lyrics quite a bit and it seems as if he is projecting a bit. He mentions that they are both basically chained to act out their roles from the nursery rhyme and even if he is not sure who he is or who she is, their roles are something they can’t escape from.

Now, most people will look at that and show disgust over how obsessed he is with his roleplay and letting a childhood nursery rhyme dictate who he is along with his “sister” but I’m just sitting here perplexed and intrigued as to why he feels so strongly about it.

Another Intermission: About “The Snow Queen”

As I was ruminating over this the night before, I thought about how Richard vaguely reminds me of the Hans Christian Anderson story, “The Snow Queen” which came into popularity thanks to Disney’s “Frozen.”

_{First published in December of 1844. The story is REALLY different than “Frozen.” I quite like the story and always wanted to write a story inspired from this story.}

In the original story, however, it follows two young children named Kai and Gerda who are very close friends, almost like siblings, and spend all their time together along with Gerda’s grandmother who looks after them. Until one day shards from a magic mirror made by the devil (yes, that Christian devil) pierces the heart and eyes of Kai. See, these mirror shards causes whoever is pierced by them to see only the bad and ugly aspects of people and things.

Due to this, Kai becomes rather cruel and aggressive. “He destroys their window-box garden (which had roses that reminded Gerda of her love for Kai), he makes fun of Gerda’s grandmother, and no long cares about Gerda…the only things he finds no fault in are snowflakes…”

Here, enters the Snow Queen who had actually tried to beckon Kai to follow her before (he had refused in fright). However, this time she manages to take him with a kiss “to numb him from the cold, and again to make him forget about Gerda and his family.” Then, she takes him away.

Despite his change of personality and others believing him dead, Gerda still wanted to get her friend back and thus set off on a long journey to find him once again.

_{This still has me reeling btw. Like, you guys have no idea how badly this took me out when I first read it LOL}

Now, I know the parallels are not all there but I wonder considering how Richard is now confirmed to dislike everyone, what exactly pierced his heart to cause him to be the way he is? And while he doesn’t seem to care for anyone, he certainly seems to care a little too much for his sister, but again, it’s more deep than just the nursery rhyme.

Pt. 2 The Young Knight and the Sterlings

_{Richard with his parents after being “found.” Presumably this is from the perspective of his sister?}

I already mentioned before how young Richard was when he was placed in this family. We don’t know the full background of why and who it was that really groomed him for the role of “Richard Sterling” but we do know that Mr. And Mrs. Sterling and Sisterling accepted him back. Yet, soon his dear “sister” realized that her brother wasn’t her brother at all. 

Unfortunately, she was the only one who seemed to realize this until it came to a climax when she was pushed down the stairs by Richard because he didn’t approved of her marriage. 

For me, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that something is off. Particularly with the parents. They know, or at least one of them knows that this boy who was returned to them isn’t actually their son, but an imposter. And for whatever reason, they agreed to take in for one reason or another.

This is possibly alluded to in Richard’s accessory, “Nesting,” which is a nest with three eggs, one is noticeably different than the other two. This is important to note because while the accessory is possibly a reference to the metaphor of the Cuckoo’s Egg. The metaphor refers to the behavior of a cuckoo bird who will deposit its own egg into a different nest, resulting in the chick being raised by its host parents, often at the expense of their own offspring.

However, due to the blatant different appearance of the imposter egg in the accessory, another phenomenon called “the Mafia hypothesis” may be at play here. This hypothesis states “that even when recognized as an intruder, parasitic eggs and chicks are accepted by the host in feat of retaliation such as destruction of the nest and its inhabitants.”

Notice that he does actually look a lil gloomy in Alice’s drawing of him. Though I suppose being a sinner in the “Holy City” will do that to a person.

If you need further proof, the fact that Richard is literally dubbed “Cuckoo” by Alice in COA IX and the fact that in his room music, the mail description refers to the metaphor is all you need to realize, yeah…he’s definitely in imposter BUT someone in the family besides his sister is possibly in the know.

Cause listen, the Sterling family is only rich because of some shady businesses they were doing. From their background on IDV wiki: “The Sterlings are described to be a hollow and an expansive lineage that seem to own many properties and look prominent to the public. But in reality, their fortune is only laundered through an underground economy with both legal and illegal unreported activities to protect their status and maintain wealth.”

Coincidentally, they had a pretty bad falling out with a business partner soon before Mrs. Sterling became pregnant with the twins. Said business partner may or may not have had something to do with the kidnapping of the twins.

_{I see the resemblance. The colors are a bit off but I see where people are coming from.}

On the other hand, many in the community theorize that the kidnapping was orchestrated by Valentina (Peddler). This is supported by the fact that a similar ball held by Richard in his character trailer is seen in Valentina’s. In addition, she has an accessory called Dmitri I which resembles Richard somewhat. And again, in Peddler’s gameplay trailer, Richard is used as the survivor to demonstrate her gameplay.

_{I can sorta see the resemblance too with the accessory. It’s mainly the eyelashes (Richard has pretty prominent eyelashes on his right eye) and the cape for me.}

What is further interesting is the fact that their connection may be tied to the acts of Valentina’s father. After losing his job, Valentina’s father who was already living in poverty, fell into heavy debt and tried gambling to try and gain enough money to repay it while trying to care for his family of many children. This didn’t work and so some bailiffs came and took away all of his children barring Valentina who was the eldest.

_{Valentina’s father taking away the youngest before they could be snatched away too.}

However, before they did, Valentina’s father had already ran off with their youngest child, who was just a baby. Some theorize this baby could’ve been Richard himself. Some even call fake Richard “Dmitri” after Valentina’s accessory as they believe it’s his real name (so if you see people who refer to Richard as Dmitri, now you know).

But regardless on who kidnapped them, what I’m unsure of is what exactly did the Sterlings have to gain by bringing this imposter into the fold? 

Perhaps, as a noble family it was to keep up appearances? As we know with other families of nobility like the Kreiburgs and the Barrieres, these families are awful towards each other and discrimination is usually based on appearances and eccentricities that are not tolerated by the families as it is a disgrace to their name, honor, and image.

The Sterlings having a kidnapped son may be damaging to their appearance…

On the other hand, it may have been part of a deal to keep the Sterlings afloat for a while as Mr. Sterling, Charlie, was known for running illicit businesses and having a vast underground criminal network full of con artists, chiselers, and gamblers who visit their secret establishments.

Speaking of gamblers, it is also theorized that Valentina’s father may have been a gambler of one of Charlie’s establisments, namely his casino. If this is true, there is indeed a motive for Valentina to use “Dmitri” to infiltrate the Sterlings. Either to give him an identity that would suit him and to destroy the Sterlings from the inside or both honestly.

Anyways, in a rather timely manner, soon after Richard’s return, Charlie signed a contract to regain control of a casino (!!) that had been his previously. He kept the contract and related documents from his wife and staff to avoid scrutiny. This is important as we now know that his wife didn’t know about his continued dealings in illicit business as supposedly it may have been agreed upon to end it after they broke off with their former business partner.

_{I hate to say this but this man only looks truly happy when he’s with his sister. Poor bean, girl is not feeling it though (lol).}

However, years later, Richard found these documents and anonymously exposed them to the rest of the household and his mother who, of course, was pissed. This caused constant arguments between the two before it came to a head when the wife tried to commit suicide (to censor or not to censor…this time I’m more mentally stable. I do want to know if it’s okay not to censor this time for those reading it however…everyone’s different).

I want to pause here to say that while Charlie’s illicit business dealings was not something his wife knew about after they had the twins and for years after, she did know what she was getting into when they married I believe. It mentions in the Sterlings backstory that Charlie was well into the thick of his illegal businesses when they were married. Granted, he could have hid it very well from his wife-to-be, but in those days…don’t people do some REALLY thorough digging on families they want to marry into?

Thus, if she was fine with it before, then why is she not now? I was thinking perhaps she found out more than just the illegalities Charlie was immersed in. If my previous speculation about Richard being a known imposter amongst not just his sister but at least one of the parents, then perhaps his mother was also not in the know. Don’t ask me why she’d accept a random boy as her son because many would ask: how does a mother not know her own child?

Third Intermission: The Case of Bobby Dunbar

_{Bobby is on the far left, holding onto the driver’s door. But is that actually Bobby?}

Well, that reminds me of a real life case, Bobby Dunbar. In short, Bobby Dunbar was the son of a Lessie and Percy Dunbar born on May 23, 1908. He went missing at the age of 4 (!!) and was supposedly found 8 months later with a man named William Walters who claimed that the boy was actually Charles Anderson. While the boy’s own mother confirmed that that was her son, Walters was still arrested and the Dunbars were sent to identify their son.

Well, while news reports at the time differed on the initial reaction to this foundling boy and Lessie, his supposed mother, they did take the boy back with them. And evidentially, “The next day, after bathing the boy, Lessie Dunbar said she positively identified his moles and scars and was certain that he was her son” (Wikipedia). Thus, the boy was given to the Dunbars.

_{Lessie with her supposed son, Bobby Dunbar.}

But what about Ms. Anderson and William Walters? Well, Ms. Anderson was given the chance to identify her son out of five boys but when the “Bobby” was presented to her, he gave no indication that he recognized her.

Similarly, Ms. Anderson also expressed uncertainty. In the end, despite walking back on her uncertainty later on, her case was dismissed and she didn’t have the money to go to court and had to return home. On the other hand, Walters was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping but only served two years and was released.

In the end, we got a more definitive answer on whether Bobby Dunbar was the real one. In 2004, thanks to DNA testing of living relatives, it was concluded that the returned Bobby Dunbar was NOT the real one. So unfortunately, the real Bobby has never been found.

Apologies if that was suuuupper long, but the point I was trying to make is that unfortunately it is not too far-fetched that a parent may not properly recognize their own child. If it happened in real life, then in fiction the disbelief can be suspended a bit, no?

Pt 3. The Knight and His Princess

_{Without context, this scene would be seen as sweet. With context, it’s…unfortunate.}

So returning to the Sterling family (and also cause I need to wrap this up), I have talked more about the parents than the sister which is kind of weird because she is so central to Richard’s character. Well, I sorta wanted to shake things up and also I realized that people NEVER seem to talk about his parents in-depth like they do his sister, if they’re mentioned at all.

_{Granted, it’s not like I went that in-depth either but y’know I tried…}

But what I want to say about sisterling here is that I feel like we gotta move on past the stairs discourse. Richard may have not cared a lick for his parents and dislikes everyone but, dare I say with some controversary, that he probably does hold some genuine affection for his sister?

Now, hear me out. I’m not trying to disregard the whole “knight must protect his princess and follow her to the ends of the Earth” type of view he has on her because…that’s not wrong either. What I mean is that his roleplay of playing the knight to her princess along with playing pretend as Richard Sterling, her twin brother, became so deeply ingrained in him that he really does see himself as her brother.

_{Despite her disappearing as adults, they chose to show them as children at the end of his trailer. Maybe it’s supposed to represent his inner child who appears more outwardly perturbed by her disappearance.}

I noticed as a child, his feelings towards her seemed more on display and easier to read. This is kinda a given because while he was given a purpose in identity (and possibly a mission to undermine the Sterlings), he was still just a child.

_{I mean, doesn’t that face scream: “Please, don’t leave me”?}

And while he had to pretend to be her knight and brother, probably after some time, he grew to be unable to separate fact and fiction. Or perhaps he simply just wanted a companion who did indeed probably played with him every day, almost 24/7 just like how the real Richard used to play with his sister.

I think people forget that Richard was just a boy himself who barely had autonomy and was thrusted into this role to play out. While yes, he grows up to be a rather heinous individual, I do blame the adults here for failing the kids in more ways than one (especially his sister who ends up becoming the biggest victim here).

Speaking of, another reason he holds so steadfastly onto her is that she discerned his true identity very quickly. While this may of compromised whatever mission he was supposed to do to the Sterlings, Richard seemed quite pleased that his sister could see his true self even if she suspected him to be an imposter (probably because no one believed her).

You really do have to pay attention and really listen to what a character says in IDV. Because what does he mean she’s found him when he was already technically found and brought back “home”? No, it’s more like he has found the only person who he sees can understand him and his world. For her to try to leave is a sin, not just because it doesn’t suit her role as a princess (but a villain and villains must be punished = stairs) but also because he probably can’t bare being alone in his own world (or really, a world he believes they both should share.

Heck, even this scene again where he is forcing her to look. It’s not because he is being sadistic here to watch her squirm (he’s not even looking at her) but it’s because he probably believes showing her how ugly the world can be can make her understand better…why he does what he does and why she needs to stay in her role.

It almost feels like if they don’t adhere to the roles given to them, there’s some form of punishment or something. Because remember his EP? It talks about not being able to escape fate. His accessory also mentions the intruder is bound by “shackles” which sort of reminds me of COA Richard.

Speaking of, OG Richard seems kinda similar to COA Florian. In the way that both seemingly see a different world than the others and probably feeling lonely for it. Thus, them seeing the potential of the others in possibly seeing how they see the world excites them

Similarly, considering the fact that Richard sees both him and his sister confined to their roles, he probably, in his twisted head, is delighted that he can share how he sees the world (their world) once his sister becomes aware of his true self.

_{Juxtapose this scene with the header GIF for this section when they were kids is…certainly something…}

I’m not going to lie, I think Richard genuinely didn’t understand why his sister would want to leave him and their world that destiny apparently has confined them to thus resulting in him pushing her down the stairs. But despite her apparent betrayal, he is quick to forgive and once she disappears, Richard journeys to the manor to find her again.

From his deduction notes. See how she is labelled a villain in one, but the very next one she is back to being a princess. Notably, in the 8th deduction he presses the fact that he could only be Richard. It basically reads as him wanting…maybe even needing her to accepting him as Richard, twisted personality, crooked worldview and all.

Either that, or someone lied to him and he actually believes he is Richard then while that would negate some of my theories, that would also be an interesting line of approach.

But golly, I could say more but I think I’m going to end it here because good grief, I could go on and on because I have many more thoughts but I’m also looking at this post and wondering who in their right mind would read ALL THIS???

Anyways, thank you for coming and stay tuned for more posts (this won’t be my last Richard post probably…but who knows what’s next?)

Something light-hearted from one of the merch lineups featuring Richard and some others. In the first one, you can see in the first one, you can see the word “Nee-san” behind him as he mumbles to himself. “Nee-san” literally means “older sister” in Japanese so he’s talking about his sister, naturally.

And yes, both in Chinese and Japanese, Richard refers to her as such so Sisterling is the older of the twins, if you didn’t know.

Farewell Titantree Forest: Rambles about Richard and Lily

(Separate post I made on Tumblr on March 14th, 2026. This article will only have Richard’s section.)

_{I love the fact that this is in-game. Yes, cause Richard the Wolf is very representative of the handsome man you’d want to receive chocolates and other White Day goodies from.}

So I finally got around to reading the whole story of the arbor day event last night and it was a pretty nice and chill read. While this story event is more niche in the fact that I know there’s probably a lot of folks that don’t care for it, I always try to read a bit since you never know what you’re gonna learn about characters.

And both Richard and Lily are in it, albeit as animals (lol), but it still provided some interesting food for thought about both of them (tho I think more of my focus may be on Richard).

Richard the Wolf

Each animal received a flower to represent them and Richard got black lilies. Never seen such a thing but I thought what the flower represents for Richard was interesting.

The conversations between Richard and Bane were really interesting and provided more insight to how Richard views his role as a knight and basically making the world his stage:

Bane: To define oneself and live it. To you, is it only a game? Those who love stories often brim with emotions of their own. Perhaps you, too?

Richard: This way of living means more than play, you’re right. But I never give true emotion to those I share the story with. Feelings belong to the characters, the missions inside the glass, never crossing its pane toward the real. When they try to step outside that story, it offends.

Bane: The world to you is a stage backdrop, movable scenery. I’ve never known anyone who lives like that. Then what is the meaning of “beyond the game”?

Richard: I find placement in my stories, somewhere believable even to me. That gives one moment of peace, a little luxury. Surrounded by role, plot, and setting…regretful, but it’s the only way.

Fiction has become more appealing to Richard than the truth which is pretty obvious, but in terms of the OG story, I wonder why?

Also, this being how Richard closes out their conversation sent me a bit:

_{Like, must you be like this, sir? I mean, at least he was honest. But also a sign that Richard doesn’t appear to like to think too deeply about his role, his stage, etc. at least in the way Bane was getting at.}

Anyways, I find the concept of Richard escaping into the character he plays fascinating and oddly saddening. He makes it sound like even when he does step into a role of a character, the actual feelings and emotions he has are pushed away to make way to how he is “supposed” to feel as the character he is playing.

Also, when he says “I never give true emotion to those I share the story with” does that include his family, specifically his sister in the OG storyline? If so, I suppose it would go along with his need to fill the knight role and Richard’s strict adherence to his sister needing to fulfill her role as the princess and…punishing her when she doesn’t.

But also, I still hold by what I said in my character analysis post on Richard that his sister is perhaps the only one Richard genuinely had a care for. Like a genuine care for that spilled out of the knightly younger brother role he was supposed to put on.

Like, sure, I guess. Try to compartmentalize your true feelings from your character and wait until they blur into each other over time. Is that humanely possible? I mean, Richard was 7 (or around about) when he joined the Sterlings. His sister vanished when he was already an adult (as he can have dovlin) making him at LEAST 21. So he was with the family for at LEAST 14 years. That’s a long time to “play pretend.”

Because really, how many times have we seen a character immerse themselves in a role or character and their genuine self starts to shine through? Not just in IDV, but in media in general.

But even Richard says he needs some peace. “Beyond the game” beyond his prepared stage (?) he finds a “placement” in his stories that can give him some peace of mind despite being surrounded by the role he must fulfill, the fixed setting he can’t escape from, and the plot he can’t rewrite. This basically is telling us that even Richard Sterling needs a momentary break from…being Richard Sterling, the knight.

_{From Richard’s EP. This line makes him sound so accepting of fate. Why does he think fate is such an unmovable thing? The “we” is him and his “sister,” of course.}

Again, he says “it’s the only way” which reminds me of how I said in his analysis that Richard appears like he is trapped in his role and if he deviates from it in any way, there will be consequences. But what are these consequences? Not sure.

Perhaps, in the OG storyline, his “sister” despite being in a similar position as him (at least in his mind), was part of that “placement” or that “respite” he needed from the story they were trapped in.

The first words he says in his trailer, “Sister, you finally find me” continue to ring in my head when I say this as that line always felt like it held more meaning than what we see on the surface.

Or I could be completely wrong. That is also a possiblity.

Another interesting thing to note is when Eli the owl takes note of Richard choosing to become a knight despite it being an ancient profession (“Perhaps you are nostalgic. Perhaps you simply like grand, heroic stories. Or perhaps you want this profession to survive, never swallowed by time.”), this is what Richard has to say:

“……I like legends of knights, but more important is choosing a role that can fully represent who I am. Nothing else matters, especially in this decaying world. In what time remains, most still do not realize they are small creatures on a drawn path forward.”

Eli’s response is something to note as well: “Most follow fate’s set route, avoiding possible freedom. Sometimes I am the same, perhaps I must see too much.”

I include this interaction for the obvious reason that it gives us insight into how Richard feels about his role as a knight as he feels it “fully” represents who he is. In addition, Eli’s response implies that Richard, too, doesn’t try to change his fate and instead follows the path it lays out for him. This basically just corroborates what I said before about Richard feeling like he can’t step out of his role even if he wanted to.

I think it feels like Richard must have a need to feel grounded in a role that he believe fate prepared for him or face being lost in his sense of self and identity. A situation he wants to waste no time in.

What Richard says above also shows us that he believes everyone has a role to fulfill but may not realize it. This can also be seen in the OG storyline when it just feels like everyone around him has some role to fill. He just sees them as characters in the story, not “his story,” but whatever story fate dictates because he’s just as much of a character as the rest of them.

_{The obligatory image of Richard pushing his “sister” down the stairs.}

That’s why the concept of deviating from the story and not playing out the role that you’re meant for possibly offends him so much hence why he does what he does to his “sister.” Or perhaps if he didn’t punish her for stepping out of character, then something or someone else would because fate would order it? But again, why?

I’ve always find it fascinating why Richard feels the need to be a “knight,” to be the Sterling’s son, to be his sister’s brother. I also wondered if the elder Sterlings have passed away and his sister has disappeared, why does he still want to look for her (I mean…he could sit comfortably on the Sterling inheritance (blood money but y’know who cares, right?) and stay home).

But he doesn’t. Why? Because it’s his duty as a knight. It’s fate that this happened. His sister has disappeared probably because some big bad villain as spirited her away and as a knight, naturally he has to beat this monster and rescue the princess.

Similarly, “Now, it’s my turn to seek you out” being parallel to the earlier “You finally found me” makes me wonder what he means by the former line too. Perhaps his wondering what “Sisterling’s” actual role is, if not a princess? Similar to whatever hidden truths there are to his real identity. I don’t know, I’m just spitballing here, guys.

But are you seeing what I’m trying to get at here?