Summary[]
Maruna's father had three friends who were dear to him; one was a primeval god and the other two were nastikas. When a time came in which his three children needed to be separated from him, the youngest went to Vishnu, the middle to Shuri, and the eldest, Maruna, was taken in by Gandharva at the insistence of his daughter, Shakuntala. Gandharva trained him rigorously, under the pretext that it would help him develop to the next stage. Over the years, he remained stuck in 2nd stage while Shakuntala advanced to 3rd stage relatively quickly. Maruna wished he could just skip ahead to 4th stage because the time in between would be a waste, which led Shakuntala to remark that time lost, no matter how trivial it seems at the moment, was time he'd never get back.
As Maruna misses his own family (except his father), Gandharva misses his daughter. Multiple times and places, gates between the sura and human realm have been opened, and Maruna would ask the suras passing through if they knew of Shakuntala's whereabouts, but so far there had been no word at all. Another gate is to be opened later that day, and Gandharva reveals that he will be returning to the sura realm with "his" permission to continue his search. Maruna has his doubts since the mystery of Shakuntala's fate is the only thing keeping Gandharva at "his" side, but he keeps his feelings to himself.
As Asha begins to discuss their travel route to Kalibloom, Leez wonders why the magician has yet to say anything about the bracelet. Asha, on the other hand, asks Leez why she has not asked any questions about anything that happened since the day she was rescued.
Currygom's comment[]
Maruna was really depressed for a while... I'm crying...
Afterword[]
<thumbnail: young Shakuntala>
Gandharva and Maruna are the focus of Chapter 6: The Past I Yearn For.
Compared to the Best Challenge version, this story is a lot more detailed. So many more suras will pop up in flashbacks, but not all of them will be prominently featured or else the main storyline will get muddled.
This story strictly focuses on 10 characters. (They all can be found in the Prologue, with the exception of the woman in the math scene and the currygom.)[1]
<image: young Maruna holding up a sleeping Gandharva>
■ He's taking care of someone else's child so carelessly. Is this really for Maruna's sake... Maybe?
■ Maruna's development is quite slow compared to other rakshasas. However, there is a well known rule among suras: When a rakshasa develops, it becomes dramatically stronger the longer it takes to develop. Due to this, when a rakshasa is stuck in 2nd stage for a long period of time, nastikas from enemy clans may come to kill it, since they determined that it would be troublesome if it develops. There were likely quite a few nastikas that came to kill Maruna during this time. But when they came they would see Gandharva, turn tail and run.
■ Nastikas such as Gandharva do not grow. They are as they were from the very beginning.
<image: Gandharva squishing Maruna's face/Shakuntala picking flowers>
■ In their 1st stage of development, they grow the same way as human babies. The point at which they stop growing is where their 2nd stage begins, and from then on they jump in appearance. At 2nd stage they appear about elementary school age, 3rd - middle school, 4th - high school.
■ Even if centuries pass, if you don't develop to the next stage, your mental age stays the same...
<image: Maruna and Gandharva>
■ Maruna eats other suras. Suras other than those of his own clan (Garuda) and allied clans (Gandharva and Yaksha) are his prey. What might his favorites be? Think about what birds of prey eat.
■ He eats in sura form, of course... If he ate in human form, this would become a horror webtoon. It would have to be rated R (19+, which is the age counted in Korean years).
Notes[]
- Garuda is shown holding a sword this episode.We later learn that it might be a god-class item[2] that he eventually handed to Maruna, who then passed it on to Yuta.[3]
- Garuda's three children are Maruna, Yuta, and the youngest, Kalavinka. We learn more of the details of their separation in a later episode.[4]
- The number of ? in the ages indicate how many digits are in their age:
- Gandharva is over a billion years old. Agni has mentioned being over a billion years old, too.[5]
- Maruna is several hundred years old in this scene.
- Shakuntala is only a few decades old in the first scene, then at least a century old when she grows to 3rd stage.
- Maruna would eventually realize, much to his dismay, that Gandharva was actually going easy on him. And it appears the key to his development was actually everybody making fun of his slow development.[6]
- On Shakuntala being dragged away:we see the full scene in Season 2.[7]
- Maruna's mother, Vinata, died during the Cataclysm. Gandharva's wife Menaka appears to have died many years earlier.
- Maruna mentions that he does not miss his father. In the finite, it is revealed that nastika fathers typically do not get along with their sons. They are very possessive of their wives and thus do not get along with their sons, especially if the sons are too clingy or upset their mother. It is not uncommon for nastika fathers to beat their sons to death by accident (the difference in strength is too great).
References[]
- ↑ Kubera, Season 1 Episode 0: Prologue
- ↑ Kubera, Season 2 Episode 43: Rift (3)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 2 Episode 14: The Weapon of a God (2)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 1 Episode 74: The Night it Rained Fire (11)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 1 Episode 9: The Queen and the Bum (4)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 2 Episode 104: Outsider (4)
- ↑ Kubera, Season 1 Episode 59: Rival (2)