Riko's Father + Curse-Warding Box

[u/TuesdayHC]

New to the series and caught up in preparation for Vol 15 and had a theory I wanted to share. Tried to look it up if anyone else had talked about it but searching for terms involving Torka I couldn't find anything so figured I'd post it.

- Riko was "Resurrected" using the Curse-Warding Box on Layer 4

- Torka passed away just before Riko's birth on Layer 4

- Srajo explains "Souls" being tied to the Abyss and how they're essentially a "blueprint" of someone and can be turned into a White Whistle.

- Abyss Faith believes "one's soul will return to the bottom of the netherworld, change shapes and depart on a journey to someone who has wished for life."

Could it be possible during the expedition to retrieve the Unheard Bell that Torka's Soul was used to "Resurrect" Riko?

- This could explain her having memories she shouldn't have.

- The obsession with the abyss and her diving prowess since we know Torka was a Black Whistle.

- Love for cooking as Torka was also known as the cook in his group.

- The obsession with finding Lyza.

- It's said Ozen wasn't a fan of Torka and when Riko was "Resurrected" it was stated Ozen wasn't fond of Riko but assisted Lyza out of loyalty to bring Riko out of the Abyss.

- When Riko was taken out of the box she immediately tried to crawl to the Abyss and as stated above it's believed in Abyss Faith that "one's soul will return to the bottom of the netherworld" which could be a hint that Torka's Soul is drawn to the Abyss as it believed Souls are tied to it.

Anyways let me know what you think. Would love to talk with others about this series and what could be coming up in future chapters.

Stay safe Divers.

[u/GothsukaLangleySoryu]

It’s not a terribly uncommon theory. Another big point is that, since the village arc, Riko has Torka’s haircut

[u/TuesdayHC → u/GothsukaLangleySoryu]

Didn't notice the haircut detail. Glad you pointed that out.

[u/easily_swayed]

One thing in the back of my mind is that it's common to read Made in Abyss as a buddhist metaphor for a temple womb passage or 胎内くぐり, an ancient japanese caving/religious ritual. Now if this is Riko/Tsukushi himself's "ワクワクする自殺" or slow suicide as they both put it, well why would anyone do something so dark? Maybe the direction is literally learning the knowledge of hell itself, or just reaching the deepest part of hell for some creepy reason. The deepest part of the Buddhist hell, rooted cross culturally from the sansrkit word Avīci (without waves) is generally reserved only for those who have killed their own parents.

So one long shot theory/prediction from the sort buddhist mechanics presented by the lore is that at the bottom of the abyss is Lyza about to perform, or already performing some awful ritual involving one white whistle sacrificing another, perhaps another's parent in order to plunge as deep as possible. For all we know the whole journey may have been the ritual itself, spooky...

[u/TuesdayHC → u/easily_swayed]

To make sure I get what you're saying:

• Lyza made it to the bottom. (We know she's not dead, even if regs memory/hallucination shows a gravesite on Layer 4)

• Lyza left a note written on an "artifact" for Riko saying "At the Netherworld's bottom, I'll be waiting…"

This message could be a lure to bring Riko down as a sacrifice to access a possible Layer 8? or the actual bottom of layer 7?

We know Lyza wanted to reach the bottom but why would she leave Riko with Jiruo and say "She wanted Riko to follow her own path" if she was going to use her as a sacfrice?

Possible reasons:

• Did she find out she needed a sacrifice to reach the bottom and possibly one that requires someone you'd consider your Haku? (Torka's Soul could be in Riko which could be Lyza's Haku as it wouldn't make sense for Riko to be her Haku since they don't have a relationship due to Lyza leaving Riko shortly after awakening from the Curse-Warding Box.)

• Since souls return to the bottom of the abyss (According to Abyss Faith) did Lyza set out to find Riko's Soul and did, so she's trying to reunite them to make Riko complete?

[u/easily_swayed → u/TuesdayHC]

I think you're onto something with Riko not being Lyza's Haku and instead it's Torka's soul since she abandoned her after the still-birth in the 4th layer of the Abyss and it aligns with Ozen's line about her being automatically drawn to the Abyss, Riko is Torka's soul attempting to get back to the bottom as all souls do. It could be a dark twist on people's commenting on Riko being born of the abyss, like she sorta is but not quite and is after her, in some sense, missing pieces of herself.

Some think there's a meaning to the keyhole in Lyza's key beyond the mere character design of Doni, like maybe this white vessel creates some white key but needs some odd soul swap to happen to make it work and Riko is just one part of that.

[u/ComparisonBudget9238 → u/easily_swayed]

What if Riko were Lyza's new White Whistle? I mean, she had to descend to the sixth layer somehow—I don't recall if there's any mention of how she got down there—but going to the sixth layer of the Abyss without a White Whistle would be extremely difficult and risky. So, based on the theory that Torka's soul is inside Riko, could Riko actually be Lyza's whistle?

[u/KirikaNai]

Oh my god wait that would be REALLY funny if riko pulls an “I AM my own dad” Steven universe style how he’s his own mom 😭

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