My Instinct Was That Finny Was Reminded Of Our Ciel, Since He Did His Signature Look 

My instinct was that Finny was reminded of our Ciel, since he did his signature look 

I do like your theory though

Ch 196: Threats on All Sides

This chapter introduces a few new potentially significant things.

The first one is Theodore, aka Theo, a member of the Pomeranian class you may remember from a few chapters back:

He helps one of the girls, named Jenny, who is afraid of the horses, and explains that they can sense your fear, and that you wouldn’t want to play with someone who is afraid of you, would you? And then teaches her to bribe him with a carrot.

Sounds a little like what’s happening here at the FOL Orphanage, doesn’t it? Give the kids sweets and make them trust?? 🤔

I doubt that Yana would have included this scene just because, so I expect it’s intended to have a double meaning. Maybe even have a reference to the expression “the carrot and the stick.”

Then, we find out that Theo is “the oldest,” because “Ronnie” “left the nest,” and it’s the “duty of the older brother to look after the younger ones.”

Doesn’t sound a eerily familiar, if not ominous???

But it gets worse. Shortly after Snake and Finny introduce themselves to Theo, the class bell rings so he needs to go. But before he does, he says something cryptic to Finny:

綺麗な

上流階級英語

ですね

Which is a bit tricky to translate.

In literal English, he’s saying:

It’s beautiful,

The Upper-class English language,

Isn’t it?

I am not entirely sure if Theo is commenting on how Finny speaks from his brief introduction, or if it’s meant to emphasize “English” is pretty in general, which is maybe a code of sorts for Finny. So it could be he’s saying:

That’s beautiful

Queen’s English (you’re speaking),

Huh?

OR, more generally, he could be saying in less literal English:

The Queen’s English is beautiful, is it not?

Either seems an odd thing to say out of the blue to someone you just met.

So either he’s noticing that Finny speaks differently than the others (remember that Doll remarks about how Ciel speaks in the circus arc?), or it’s some veiled remark about English in general.

If my theory that Finny is from a program that UT may have been involved with somehow, then perhaps Theo is from the same program as Finny, which remember was not in England, but Germany.

Recall that Finny speaks German? Perhaps this is Theo’s way of saying he knows who Finny is without alerting anyone else who may be listening (and speaking German may have done just that). As far as we know, Finny was the only survivor. Could Theo be a bizarre doll with all the power that Finny has, plus higher intelligence??

Finny definitely recognizes him, though he doesn’t say how or from where as his words trail off. It’s not entirely clear if he recognizes Theo specifically, or if Theo reminds him of someone he knows.

Finny doesn’t have too long to ponder this, though, because Doll collapses not long after.

Snake tries to help but Doll yells at him to stay away, insisting that they’re fine, just a little dizzy. Doll orders the maid (Susan) to take Snake and Finny to the Collie classroom, and staggers off to the stable out of sight.

At first, it seems like maybe Doll doesn’t want to have Snake see them like that, or is worried about hurting him, but once we are alone with Doll, it gets more ominous.

Doll speaks to “everyone,” asking them to “wait for them,” as if talking to the dead circus members, then proclaims their plan for vengeance, saying:

必ずあいつらを

地獄*に送るから

Or, in English:

Without fail, I will send them all to hell*!

Now first, when Doll says “hell,” the spelling tells us they’re saying “there,” so it could be a way of not “swearing,” or it could be a more emphatic way of saying that Doll will send them where they belong.

Or, since we don’t know who the “they” Doll is talking about is, it could mean not Finny and Snake but Sebastian and Ciel. Furtheremore, now that we know Doll is indeed a Bizarre doll and didn’t somehow escape alive, it’s likely Doll knows Sebastian’s true nature. So the phrasing here could a way of saying Doll will send him back to where he came from.

This could mean Doll isn’t a threat to Snake and Finny, and may even help them if Theo becomes a threat to them. But at the same time, Doll (since they are a BD) may not be able to be persuaded against attempting to kill Ciel and Sebastian, which ofc Snake and Finny wouldn’t allow.

It’s messy indeed, and I’m very interested in what happens next.

As always, please remember I’m human and make mistakes so I apologize in advance for any errors.

Please respect my work and do not use my translations or screenshots without credit. Thank you.