A thousand thanks to Mr. Souza for his great ideas!
It is a fact that Reinhard von Lohengramm is a "carbon copy" of
Napoleon Bonaparte. Both are "seize the day" people, to borrow
Mr. Souza's words. But Reinhard is better than Napoleon. No, I should
say he is the perfection of Napoleon by Mr. Tanaka, because the
essential qualities of Reinhard and Napoleon are the same.
I think I should elaborate on the "advantage" of Reinhard mentioned
by Mr. Souza. The advantage held by Reinhard is not only that he can
keep the "meddlers" and the shites out of his work, but also that he
can attract all the talented Mr. or Ms "Nothing" to help him realize
his dreams. He knows who are talented and which jobs suit them. Then
he trusts them. Remember he is, or is very close to, the absolute
ruler of the Reich, or he has got the special right from Friedrich IV
von Goldenbaum. A few food examples are Mettermeyer, Reuental,
Oberstein, Ferner, Streit and Hildegard. I don't say that he doesn't
make any mistake in choosing people. In fact, Ranke is a complete
failure. Appointing Reuental as the governer of the "New Conquest" -
the land of the former FPA leads to disastrous results. But successes
such as Hildegard's father and Mettermeyer show that rare failures
don't matter much. ("It is not important to learn much about flowers
and wine; knowing who are the experts on flower and on wine is
enough," said Hildegard, perhaps to her father.)
I think it is unfair to say that Yang is a better commander in battle,
or you may say, a better tactician. Can you say Reinhard is a better
commander-in-chief, or a better strategist, just because the
circumstances allow him to show off his strategic talent, while these
circumstances do not exist for Yang? Certainly not. Yang is a good
strategist, just as good as Reinhard. He shows it in his letter to
Bucock, when the first "Goetterdaemerung" ("Twilight of the Gods")
starts. He shows it again to his wife and, through the pen of Mr.
Tanaka, to us when he is planning to free the FTA from the Reich
during his brief "retirement". He never has any chance to fulfil these
grand strategic plans because of the circumstances. Similarly,
Reinhard is a good tactician, as good as Yang. He rarely needs to use
his tactical talent fully, unless he is against Yang. The blame for
the faults in the near-run thing of Vermillion should fall on people
like Tolneisohn, for the rashness of these subcommanders. But it only
proves that the third-rated commanders of the Reichsfloette is no
match to Yang, which is a well-established fact. The Second Battle of
Iserlohn, which is the last battle of Yang, should be regarded as a
draw. They cancel out each other tactically.
I agree with Mr. Souza that Reinhard is "destined" to win. I hate to
use words like "destine" and "fate", but Reinhard has to win, and then
to die young, to complete the legend and the tragedy: legend in the
Napoleonic sense and tragedy in the Wagnerian sense. And he does so.
It is the best end for the novel. If anyone of the legend and the
tragedy is not complete, it will be totally unjust for the dead
heroes, such as Siegfried Kircheis, Oskar von Reuental and Yang. The
blood shed by these heroes and the butcheries on the battlefields are
not justified. However, Yang does not lose. Although he dies in the
hands of terrorists, his ideals lives on. Reconciliation between him
and Reinhard is complete through Julian. There are some clues at the
end suggesting democracy, in the form of constiutional monarchy will
flourish in the whole Reich including the land of the former FPA,
through the Dowager Empress Hildegard and Julian. (The biggest
obstacle to democracy in the Reich, Paul von Oberstein, dies just a
little bit earlier than his master Reinhard.) Isn't this good enough?
Let me clarify the claim that the LOGH finishes as a Wagnerian tragedy
with Reinhard being dead at the end. This is my own observation.
Hildegard von Mariendorf is not only a clever and beautiful woman, but
also the chief mourner who provides the redemption of Reinhard, whose
"sins" are his passive cooperation with Braunschweig in bombing
Westerland and his "murder" of Siegfried Kircheis. For these "sins" he
must die. Only the love of Hildegard redeems his "sins". Hildegard
reveals it very early, though to herself and to us (again through Mr.
Tanaka) only. When Reinhard receives the bad news of Kempf's defeat by
Yang, he is so angry that he leaves the dining table and shuts up
himself in a room in the Reichskantzlerei (Chancellory). He is more
and more like a tyrant after the death of Siegfried. Hildegard, with
whom Reinhard is dining originally, vows to herself (and to us) that
she will save Reinhard from it, no matter the cost she will pay. In
fact she always tries to cancel out the dangerous excesses of
Oberstein's influence, partly by her own efforts and partly siding
herself with Mettermeyer, Reuental and the generals. Mr. Tanaka seemed
to have made clear that Hildegard plays such a "redemption through
love" role in Book 8 or 9. Reinhard suffers the "Westerland" distress
after a military parade. He is drunken in his bedroom. When he asks
Hildegard to leave behind to serve him, she obeys at once, noting his
miserable state. (She can refuse, though.) She stays there all night
... (I think everyone can guess correctly how she "serves" him! Please
note that, however, Reinhard never hides his disgust at such kind of
bad behaviour of the Goldenbaum kaisers - abuse of the power by the
sovereign - which his sister has suffered. He is really very drunken
that day!) Perhaps Hildegard thinks that if her "sacrifice" can
comfort his soul, then she will make this "sacrifice". She never asks
for reward of anytime: Though she is crowned Kaiserin later, it is
Reinhard's own decision. She seems happy in just keeping as the
chief-of-staff of the Reichsfloette after that night. (I think this
part of the novel is the most controversial in the whole work. I don't
know how the Anime will treat this scene of "love affair". I only have
videos up to the Second Season. Could anyone tell us if he/she knows
the details?) The death of Reinhard with Hildegard and, Annerose, who
reconciliates with Reinhard through Hildegard, by his side is just the
completion of the redemption through love. (Perhaps the Anime should
consider putting some Wagner music in this scene if my observation and
Mr. Tanaka's view are the same. Maybe the Liebestod in "Tristan und
Isolde".) So is the important theme of "redemption through love".
In fact, it is not difficult to find this theme echoing in variation
when it comes to Yang and Frederica (more apparent), and Siegfried
Kircheis and Annerose (less apparent).
Reinhard-Siegfried