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The Knave of Hearts
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| ハートのジャック Hāto no Jakku | |
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Volume
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7
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Chapter
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39
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Cover Characters
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Knave of Hearts
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Previously
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Next
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The Knave of Hearts is the thirty-ninth chapter in Are You Alice?. It marks the first time the Knave of Hearts is in a major role and the second time he speaks. It also introduces two concepts as to how a resident of Wonderland is welcomed: their names are "thrown away", or erased from their memory, and that a requirement is that they wished to "throw the world away".
Caption
"It's overflowing, the desire concealed within his heart..."
Synopsis
Chapter 39 starts with a flash back, showing us the first time the Knave of Hearts came to Wonderland. The White Rabbit sneaks up behind the Knave, welcoming him to Wonderland. Waving away the question of who he was because the residents have never called him a name, the White Rabbit gives the Knave of Hearts his title. The Knave tries to fight back, saying that it isn't his name, only to come up with nothing. Frightened, he backs off as the White Rabbit informs him that his name has been thrown away and that the reason he was invited to Wonderland was because he wished to throw the world away.
After the title page, we find Alice handcuffed and in the wine celler of presumably the Queen's palace. Confused and unsure of where he is, Alice once again thinks back to the Mad Hatter's words about a fairy godmother escorting him to the castle. With a comment about wanting money over glass slippers, the man who kidnapped Alice, the Knave of Hearts, walks down the stairs, arriving with a lantern in his hand. Presuming that the Queen wanted him, Alice asks if he's right, only to be ignored - despite it being a holiday and there is no sign of the Queen, Jack remains silent. As Jack approaches, Alice attempts to scare him off, reminding him that the Mad Hatter would come and save him, but he stops when Jack reaches into his coat to pull out something.
Alice, presuming it to be the gun the Knave threatened him with in the previous chapter, begins to panic and accidentally slips that he never recieved the name of "Alice" by the White Rabbit. Assuming the Queen ordered the Knave to privately execute Alice, the 89th begins to panic and argue that he is Alice, regardless of who he is, and that he still plans on upholding his deal with the Queen of receiving a home when the game was over. Yelling that it's impossible for him to be finished there, Alice shields his eyes... only to see between them that the Knave was pulling out a pen. The Knave beings to converse with Alice, using a sketchpad and the pen for his own words. The Knave signs to Alice that he's gotten sick of the Queen and requests the help of the 89th to break the contract they hold, freeing Jack from Wonderland and allowing him to live as a normal person or, better yet, return home. Alice becomes arrogant, saying that it's only natural for someone to seek his help, but immediately Jack begins to insult "Alice": because of the fact that no "Alice" has won the game, he's been stuck in a terrible lifestyle and that "Alice" is truly useless, leading to Alice punching him in the face like before... but this time, Jack screams outloud.
Thrown to the floor, the Knave of Hearts screams out 15 syllables of "Ow! That hurt, you idiot! Don't fuck with me, you little prick!". Alice flips him off, yelling equally as loud, and quickly Jack realizes he just broke his vow. Screaming out his rage, he mourns how he's tried his best to keep quiet for ten years and then blames Alice. Alice attempts to comfort him, offering his unconditional help, and Jack takes his gun up again and returns to holding Alice hostage, telling him that a prisoner should behave. Alice keeps his cool, though, more irritated than anything and the Knave proves Alice wrong about being unable to kill him - punching in him the gut, the Knave calls himself a traitor to the game and reminds Alice of the holiday going on.
Boasting that he's gained the ability to protect himself, Alice takes his gun out and aims for the Knave. A resounding click of a lack of ammo fills the air and the Knave falls backwards, and Alice can't help but smile as he remarks about his empty revolver. Since he has no escape and the Knave has proven he could fight off Alice if he wanted to, Alice agrees to listen to Jack's story and tells him to stop bothering with force. Sighing, Jack states that Alice is self-centered, only to be told that Alice is selfish because he's "Alice".
Trivia and Errors
- The title of the chapter is yet again obvious: the Knave of Hearts as a role, as a character, and as a job.
- The opening that appears, as well as the flashback from the next chapter, are linked together and expaned upon in Track 2 of Alice's Tea Party Phase Two, revealing more of the Knave's personality as well as interaction between the Queen and the Rabbit.
- In the CD drama, when the Knave tries to remember his name, there is a pulsating noise. In the manga, the noise is replaced by a scribbled out panel.
- The implications that the White Rabbit said as requirements shows that everyone in Wonderland, at one point or another, was sick of the world and wished death upon it or themselves. However, the Knave apparently met this requirement only temporarily, meaning it's something you can get over or decide against, like suicide.
- The Knave of Hearts shows the ability to randomly generate a sketchpad, as there's no possible way to carry it. It also proves that he has the ability to create not just signs from thin air.
- While apparent in the manga, the Knave of Hearts is a hysterical mess when he first speaks, proudly ranting without a moment of silence until Alice tries to comfort him.
- Alice should still have one last bullet left in his gun in the manga. Likewise in terms of guns, the Knave's gun spontanously appears and disappears (though one could argue he takes it out before threatening and he hides it away before punching his hostage).