If you thought that the questionable decisions of the mangaka Nakaba Suzuki They were done with the end of Nanatsu no Taizai, which I disappoint with its terrible ending, the sequel manga, Four Knights of the Apocalypse (Mokushiroku no Yonkishi), just said “Hold my beer” and just surprised us with more details to laugh.
Merlin’s Turn: Toxic Protection and Consequences
Chapter 216 of the sequel manga has unleashed a storm on social networks after revealing that the orientation of Gawain, one of the four horsemen, was not genuine, but the product of a magical intervention from her mother. What for the author could have been a dramatic turn, for fans it has been interpreted as a narrative invalidation of a character.
Until now, Gawain He had clearly and repeatedly shown a romantic interest in other women, including his flirty interactions with Isolda, something that many readers saw as the character’s essence.
However, chapter 216 of the sequel to Nanatsu no Taizai Completely disassemble that reading. There it is revealed that Merlin, her mother, threw a curse on her intended to prevent her from developing feelings towards men, supposedly to “protect” her from the love pain that her own Merlin experienced in the past. True conflict arises when, when the spell is broken, Gawain He reacts immediately with blush and obvious discomfort in front of a man. With this, the story seems to hint that her attraction to women was not an authentic expression of her identity, but a collateral effect imposed by magic.
Nakaba Suzuki’s history
The criticism was immediate. Comments social networks as in X (Twitter) and in forums like Reddit have described this movement as “junk writing” and offensive. The taste for women of Gawain With a pretty flirty and sure touch it was part of her personality that made her stand out very well, but now that it turns out that it was a curse, it’s like she lost part of her identity.
Nakaba Suzuki He is an author of extremes, capable of creating brilliant magic systems and epic battles, but with a notorious history of uncomfortable romantic decisions (remember the dynamics Meliodas/Elizabeth or the strange fate of Jericho).
The excuse that “Nakaba does not surf the internet and does not know these sensitivities” is no longer enough to justify decisions that seem to reverse the growth of a character only to fit him into a heterosexual romance that did not need to exist.
Verdict: A hard to ignore narrative error
The revelation about Gawain is not only forced, but also weakens the character’s own agency. Turning your orientation into the consequence of a spell born of Merlin’s trauma is felt, at best, as an easy resource and, at worst, as a problematic message regarding sexual identity.
Was it really a turn that Nakaba had planned from the beginning, or does it seem more like an improvised change to justify a male romantic interest? Does this turn affect your perception of Gawain as a character? Share your opinion in the comments!
