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epicrox · 10 days

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VADTD cover analysis!

This stems from an analysis I did on the vadtd server (everyone is welcome to come and join us). Since there seem to be a few people who are confused about the order of covers or the seasons they represent, I decided to make a little analysis, (this is coming from someone who has almost all english physical copies of the manhwa). I shall fulfill my duty as self-proclaimed season speculator and covers analyst (•̀ᴗ•́)و

As of now we have 7 known covers, after Suol-nim made an announcement on twitter about how the 4th season will begin on the 30th of September, and with it came a picture of what might be the new season’s cover.

(To make the placement easier to understand, just look at it this way: the odd numbers are the main covers, whereas the even numbers are the filler covers, which was pointed out by @seirclys as well).

1. Let’s start from the very beginning with the first cover.

The first cover ever that we know of, where Penelope is by herself. We've seen this cover plenty of times. It’s the first season's start, and I'd also like to think that the fact that she is by herself is not only showing that she is the protagonist, but also her distance with everyone else.

We can see that there are various crystal hearts around Penelope and each represents one of the male leads.

Penelope is laying in a coffin, (most likely symbolizing the many in-game deaths), and surrounded by flowers, more specifically white lilies that we see in the novel illustration of Penelope.

She is wearing the dress which is said to be her favorite. It appears each time a panel of the actual game is shown. It seems to be her trademark dress.

Penelope is holding onto a dark red rose, which could represent how she chose Eckles as her escape out since his affection score rises easily; alternatively it could represent her.

2. The second one is not a season start cover, nor a main cover, it’s a physical copy cover because the first season was broken in multiple parts when published as physical.

On the cover we see Penelope and Emily; I think this shows how now Emily is firmly on Penelope's side and will continue to serve her from then on. The duchy in the background and Emily's presence could also be symbolizing how other servants as well are now recognizing Penelope as their superior, like the head butler Pennel did.

Penelope’s dress is a stark contrast to the one seen on the first season cover. Her dress is very bright and shorter, looking to be made for a more leisurely time. There is also a book in her hand and her expression is calm, while Emily brings a cheerful air.

3. The third in line is a main cover, and consequentially, the second season's cover.

On the cover we see Penelope and Reynold standing back to back, and the place is the attic where they had a verbal altercation, however Reynold understood where he went wrong. Their position shows how they are close but yet so far; Reynold from now on will try to mend his relationship with Penelope (in his own way), while Penelope for the time being doesn't want to have much to do with him. They will grow closer as time goes by.

Reynold has a remorseful expression while Penelope is almost indifferent, neutral even.

Some of her hair is resting on his shoulder, and she is holding a pink rose, which from my understanding is a nod towards Reynold since now we know that his affection score is pink.

I think that it all means that, despite the two of them having clashed the most, Penelope is still welcome to allow Reynold to be close to her.

Thorny vines are present at the top, together with pink roses and blue roses that look to be yet again hinting at Reynold’s affection score, and possibly how his relationship with her will be meant to be: lighthearted feelings, with brotherly love.

4. Like the second one, the fourth cover is mostly a physical copy cover, since season 2 was broken in parts for serialization reasons.

On the cover we see Penelope and Callisto, who is very present in the hunting arc. He stands far from Penelope, signaling that the two of them are not that 'close' during this time in the story. Callisto could also be considered as being more in the background since he is the farthest away from Penelope, unlike Emily and Reynold so far.

Callisto is looking at Penelope with an observant expression, whereas Penelope is looking at us. I’d like to point out that Penelope is always looking at the viewer, while if there are other characters in the cover, they are always looking at her.

Both of them are wearing their garments from the hunting tournament. Their weapons are also in sight, which are quite important in this particular arc.

Penelope’s crossbow and her use of it is what got her banned the previous year, and this time around it will be used to save both her and Callisto from the assassins chasing them. Callisto’s sword will slay the bear that attacked Penelope, and it was also used by him to aid Penelope in their fight against the assassins.

The missing thorns and roses signify Penelope’s views on Callisto at the time. She still does not consider him a love interest in full despite him being one.

It is highly likely that Callisto will get another cover, which will no doubt be a main season’s cover. I believe he will get more covers after that one too *cough* side stories and special chapters *cough*

5. The fifth cover is a main cover, and season’s 3 main cover.

It features Penelope and Derrick standing with their backs to each other, separated by prison bars, symbolizing Penelope's wrongful incarceration, as well as her cutting ties with Derrick after the trial.

The broken blue string is a call back to how Penelope was seen 'stepping’ on a blue ribbon, which is a figuration and meant to represent her relationship with Derrick, to show how she is once and for all cutting every connection to him, writing him out of her options.

Both of them are dressed in the same attire we see on them during the trial arc, showing exactly when their affiliation became strained.

Although they are standing back to back, it is very different from how Reynold did it, (Reynold was basically sitting next to her with her hair even falling on his shoulder, basically very close); Derrick on the other hand has no physical contact with Penelope whatsoever and we can only see half of his face, his figure is also fading towards the bottom.

In her hand Penelope is holding the dagger that was used as evidence to prove her innocence during the trial. The snapped string and the way she holds the dagger makes it appear as though she cut the string, which would be pretty ironic given how the dagger was the evidence of Penelope’s innocence, which Derrick doubted from the beginning, and because of his skepticism he did not get the chance to even know about the dagger before Penelope herself presented it during the trial.

Like with Reynold’s cover, there are thorny vines around the cover, however the roses here are darker in color and obviously meant to represent Derrick.

6. This is not a main cover, and is the filler cover for the continuation of season 3.

This cover represents the island arc where Winter is a prominent figure.

Like Reynold he is very close yet far at the same time, and like with Callisto, their distance shows a lack of complete trust from Penelope towards them. However whereas Callisto still didn't have Penelope's faith, Winter lost it in this arc.

Penelope's back is facing Winter, while he is reaching for her with a purple rose in his hand (the exact same color as his affection score), but there is no physical contact between the two.

Penelope is also adorning an almost indifferent expression. With his 'test’ to see if Penelope was a follower of the Leila, he endangered both the children and Penelope herself, which made her lose all of her hope in him.

At the season's end we see how Penelope cuts off ties with him as well and tells him to not look for her unless she looks for him first. It is pretty much the same situation that happened with Derrick; Penelope is giving her back to both of them with a serious and determinate expression on her face signaling how she ‘writes them off' her list of potential escape routes.

There is yet another pattern at the edges of the cover, consisting of thorny vines and roses in a coloring that represents the male lead featured on the cover.

The cover where Callisto is featured seems to be the only one so far (featuring a male lead) that does not have these thorny vines and roses, despite him very much being a male lead. I previously attributed that to his cover not being a main one, however after further inspecting Winter’s cover which is also a filler one like Callisto’s, I can say that it’s not the case. Perhaps the vines full of thorns are there to symbolize how each of the male leads did something that made Penelope reluctant to place trust in them and consequentially less prone to consider them successful escape routes.

7. The seventh cover was shared yesterday on twitter by Suol herself, and will most likely be the main cover for season 4.

This signals that the season will begin with Eckles coming back from his training, (I could explain the cover further, but it contains major spoilers so I won't include this segment, and I will be vague with the discernment of the cover's symbolism).

Eckles is shown to have a desperate expression on his face, and there is also a little distance between him and Penelope.

Due to the previous pattern of the last two covers, as well as Penelope's almost doubtful/ incredulous and somewhat 'angry’ expression, one could assume that Eckles did something that made him fall from Penelope's graces, so she'll most likely take a distance from him too.

Let’s talk about hand placement. His right hand is still the one that's holding the magical sword Penelope gifted to him when they went out and she bought him all the training equipment, together with the amulets for the Duke, Emily and Callisto.

His left hand looks to be holding Penelope’s quite tightly and she is not reciprocating the gesture, her hand is limp in his. There’s also a crumpled dark red rose in his grip that he is trying to make Penelope hold. Yet again, I believe that this detail too is showing how Penelope completely gave up on Eckles: he symbolizes the crumpled rose, and it’s almost as if someone let it fall to the ground in an uncaring fashion; while Eckles is trying desperately to make her change her mind.

Penelope is positioned physically higher than Eckles. Perhaps it’s a hint towards their difference of ranks and how Eckles views this in a bad light.

The background consists of the thorny vines that were present in the previous two covers and Reynold’s as well (which backs up further the theory that Penelope will distance herself from Eckles), with roses of pale and darker colors, which make them seem as if they're withering; the two of them look to be inside of the greenhouse, where they did appear once before.

Their attire is the same as when they went together shopping, which is a little unusual since it’s an ‘old’ reoccurrence, and it breaks the sequence of the characters wearing the same clothes from the beginning of the season/arc they’re meant to represent.

#death is the only ending for a villainess #villains are destined to die #isekai manhwa #vadd

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