@Kdom:
If Kyros wish is stupid why should they follow it (cf Luffy) ? And if they know about the lie why shouldn’t they know the reason. It is because they don’t talk between eachother that there is a misunderstanding.
And in small countries like, lies are easily kept because since everybody knows it it is unecessary to speak about it (cf dwarves)
Again, like I've said several times, the problem lies with Kyros. The citizens would most likely forgive him (if they hadn't already. We know they love him, even referring to him with the respectful "sama" honorrific), but not Kyros himself.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@Daz:
Violet is more kidnappable than you think, but more on that later. At any rate, what Kyros/Scarlet wanted and what the citizens felt were indeed different things, but you were the one who brought up “worrying over kidnappings” as the citizens motivation. This is where we approach the manga on a fundamentally different level: You’re currently creating a scenario where the citizens kept up a nationwide lie due to worrying about Scarlets risk of kidnapping (unsupported), while simultaneously assessing that tiny little Violets DF makes her unkidnappable (unsupported and untrue) so they don’t need to worry about her, and Rebecca can also just be reinstated in the exact same position as her mother without any citizen doing anything but supporting her, no one visibly worrying over her getting kidnapped, because X reasons. That’s just…not applicable at all to what the story presents to me, and I find it far far easier to just accept that a plot element was handled questionably.
When Vivi got almost kidnapped, it was the cliffhanger of a chapter, there was tension regarding her rescue, characters made it clear that they took it very seriously, Cobra was shown to be furious at nearly losing his daughter, and then complements Kohza for saving her. This could have been a springboard for making Cobra worried for Vivi, to beef up her security, and because the storytelling let us experience all of the above, it would’ve felt perfectly justified. But it doesn’t happen.
Now with Scarlet, it takes place over a single page, and no one, not Kyros, Scarlet, Riku or any citizen, brings it up after that. Its main purpose was not to drive home a point about the dangers of princess-kidnappings because this element has absolutely zero weight to it, its point was to show the moments of Scarlets attitude change towards Kyros. When theres’ no on-panel evidence of anyone fussing over it in the slightest, when the actual kidnapping has so little dramatic heft compared to Vivis, it becomes ridiculous that everyone in the nation would perpetuate such a massive charade based on it. The reasoning of “It was to prevent kidnappings” feels weak and unearned; if it was truly on the citizens mind, there would’ve been drawn parallels between Luffy abducting Rebecca and Scarlets earlier kidnapping.
Well, the kidnapping angle is implied by the citizens saying that they kept silent to protect them just like the Dwarves.
But protect from who? Considering that the Dwarves were commonly kidnapped/captured, and the citizens associated Kyros' family situation with the Dwarves, then it's not hard to believe that they were speaking about kidnappers. So no, this is not unsupported at all.
But of course, it could be not only kidnappers, but pirates and political enemies as well (Doula would fit both in this case).
Oh, and Violet's case was not unsupported and untrue.
@Daz:
She staked out her victims, and got on their good side before striking. Like a potential kidnapper would. Plus, she even takes Violet hostage, showing how very kidnappable she is, despite being all-seeing and capable of mind-reading. You’re really asking a lot of her to suggest she should be on constant alert, scanning everyone’s intentions as well of the horizon for incoming dangers. But really, it would just take a single Dressrosan with a shaky moral compass to realize that hey, princess Scarlet is out of the palace living in a completely isolated hut, and everyone pretends to not notice her…you know, she’d be really easy to discreetly kidnap.
No one in Dressrosa would try to mess with Kyros regardless of their moral compass as he is pretty much the strongest Dressrosian. The problem would be outsiders who are stronger than Kyros (which wouldn't be uncommon considering what kind of attraction the Colosseum is).
@Daz:
Kyros did resolve the entire situation instantly, by himself though? And now, he was about to sail off and leave Rebecca in the entirely same situation as her mother – only without Kyros being able to come running if Rebecca ever got kidnapped. Its as if the Scarlet kidnapping incident isn’t a major event that informs the characters’ decisions. You’re making it sound like princesses get kidnapped 24/7 and everyone should be totally on edge about it in Dressrosa, as it apparently causes massive nationwide lies, but this is never reflected in the story.
By your logic, Kyros leaving Rebecca alone as a princess in Dressrosa should paint the worlds biggest target on her forehead, but there is nothing indicating that anyone worries over this, least of all the man who personally saved Rebeccas mother from kidnapping.
The logic is that if as a princess, Scarlett could get kidnapped, then as a public commoner, that same situation would have a far bigger chance of happening, as there would be no guards and a giant castle around to protect her (and Kyros was already part of her guard when it happened). Scarlett seemed to have been in public when the kidnapping happened, which reinforces this idea (I really doubt those pirates went all the way to the palace to get her).
Being silent about Scarlett would diminish the chances of it happening again, which is what the citizens were going with.
@Daz:
The dwarves are a whole separate issue, but the species is a known concept outside of the country, and didn’t bother hiding themselves at all from the marines, pirates, gladiators, you name it- theres no one on the island that don’t know of them, so word can slip out extremely easily, which, going by the slave-price list, it already has. Plus, due to their honest nature, any slaver trader with a dwarf can instantly figure out where to get more. All it takes is someone asking Leo where he’s from, and he’s pretty much doomed his people. Because on the flip side from “protecting their identities”, you can argue that keeping the dwarves segregated and pretending like they don’t exist makes them much more of a vulnerable target, since there no assistance whatsoever if someone comes for them. Integrating them into society would’ve made them visible, sure, but it’d be harder to just up and abduct an official citizen in broad daylight than nabbing some secluded people who officially doesn’t exist.
I'm pretty sure the Tontatta aren't the only Dwarf tribe in the world, just like not every Giant is from Elbaf.
And hey, considering that no Tontattas were captured for 800 years until Doula showed up, I suppose that having then secluded is not a bad decision. Mermaids being official citizens of Fishman Island didn't stop rampant kidnapping.
Oh, and having them visible like you said would just make them more vulnerable to people just walking up to them and taking advantage of their gullible nature. That's exactly what the ancient king of Dressrosa did after all. Just capture them by saying that you want them to go on a walk with you, like some sort of Dwarf pedophile (Dwarphile?)
@Daz:
So if you had a a neighbor who had tried erasing his identity, lived in isolation, saw his family in hushed secret, discarded his status, all entirely because he erroneously believed that everyone hated him…it’d be wrong to go poke his shoulder, and say “hey, its cool. We know, and its cool. You don’t need to do all this”- because it’d be awkward? Because I’m sure he loves having to have grandpa visit in the dead of night in deepest secret, instead of out in the open?
Well, I wouldn't know all this by myself about my neighbor. Kyros doesn't strike me as a social guy who goes to bars and talks about his problems.
And hey, me and my friends are constantly showing respect to him just like everybody else in the country. Why should I think that he believes that I and all other citizens hate him?
@Daz:
And again, apart from all the logical details, the core issue is still that in the end, Rebeccas life almost got ruined. Because people wanted to avoid awkwardness and/or were apparently really worried about kidnappings (except when they weren’t)?
Kyros thought it would be best if Rebecca lived in luxury at the castle. Maybe the citizens understood what he was trying to do (after all, a parent trying to make his child live in peace and luxury shouldn't be seen as bad), though they saw Rebecca fleeing as inevitable. Elizabello seemed to think so too.
But the main point there was to let Rebecca to decide what she wanted for her life herself, instead of letting Kyros decide for her.
@Daz:
The justifications and benefits were not explored at all beyond the extremely vague and questionable "to protect them" statement, flapping all by its lonesome in the wind. This has caused us to explore potential benefits and motives, such as kidnapping-deterrence in this discussion; the manga didn't.
It's implied through the Dwarf association.
@Daz:
Phew. I feel like I’ve exhausted this topic completely by now. At this point I’m starting to run on autopilot and caring less and less about Kyros and Rebecca, and just about mental excercise, so its time to stop.
I agree that it's exausting to talk about those guys. However, I do think they are underrated in terms of writing after doing some rereads.
Kyros especially, as he constantly trained under the mantra that "beasts" like him are only liked when inside a cage, which helps explaining his beliefs that he might be hated outside the Colosseum.
You're free to do whatever you want with this reply.
@Daz:
So, how about that Sabo cracking nuts? Crazy!
Bastille was lucky he went for the mask.
@Daz:
Also, Barto totally should’ve been #1, wtf
Cavendish has seniority and a bigger bounty, not to mention a new Nakama himself. It's only fair.