The Twisted Love of Bondrewd in Made in Abyss

To descend the Abyss is to abandon all that you know and love. For the sake of satiating one’s desire, they embark on a journey of no return, risking life and death solely for the goal of discovering what lies at the bottom. Just to look into the dark and find a single light, every delver makes the climb into this world that is unbearably cruel, ripping and tearing them apart, threatening their lives, and warping them in both their minds and bodies. Only the greatest and most insane of delvers will attain such heights, or rather depths, to become those known as White Whistles, those who have delved farther than any other and achieved things that no other delver possibly could. The Lord of Annihilation who destroyed any enemy that stood in her way, The Unmovable Sovereign who had unparalleled strength and retrieved a great many artifacts from the Abyss, and possibly most infamous in the story of Made in Abyss and even within the fandom of the series itself is the Lord of Dawn famous for his scientific achievements that have benefited society as a whole yet done so at the expense of all lives he deemed necessary to sacrifice.

For Bondrewd the Novel, all is worth sacrificing for the sake of progress, even that which he loves.

We’re introduced to Bondrewd from the words of Ozen, a woman shown already to be terrifying in her own right when she single handedly defeats Reg. She, who despite earning the respect of Riko after spending time with her and showing the warmth that lay beneath the cold surface, was regarded as weird and cruel in her own way. But before Riko began her descent once more, Ozen warned her of Bondrewd, claiming that he was far more cruel than she was. Mind you, this is coming from the same woman who, after realizing she couldn’t scratch Reg with her own hands, decided it would be fun to keep pounding him into the ground until he lost consciousness. The White Whistles in general are all cited to be insane, lacking in any form of humanity that prevents an individual from acting so wicked. After all, to face the Abyss that can kill you just for attempting to return from it can drive a man insane. But Bondrewd in particular is interesting in his own right. We don’t truly see what kind of person he is until we meet the Narahete named Nanachi and her disfigured best friend Mitty, only to discover what exactly turned her into the creature she is when she saves Riko. Because had it not been for Bondrewd and his attempts to discover the secret of the Curse, Nananachi and Mitty might have just lived normal lives and would have never had to suffer.

I’m sure all of you are at least aware of the scene from Made in Abyss where Nanachi and Mitty were disfigured in the elevator as they were forced to descend to the 6th layer and return to the 5th, turning Nanachi into her furry appearance and ripping away any humanity that Mitty had left. But what’s more cruel than the suffering of the scene we witness and more vile than the fact that they were placed here to begin with is that, upon returning, Bondrewd only responded with joy and excitement, exclaiming with his classic “Subarashii.” For the sake of learning how to conquer the Curse that disfigured, maimed and punished anyone that dares descend deeper into the Abyss and tries to ascend, Bondrewd sacrificed the lives of so many orphans and other Delvers just to discover a way to circumvent its effects. In his scientific discoveries, he found that the key was love and sacrifice. Love between two who would be willing to risk it all to save the object of that love and the sacrifice of one of those individuals taking the burden of the suffering, pain and disfiguration. This of course is not without turning both into Narahete, the inhuman creatures we see more of later on in the Ganja arc, but only one will be lucky enough to retain their humanity. Although, in this case, luck is far from the word that would describe the situation Nanachi found herself in, forced to befriend more orphans that Bondrewd took in, made to make them feel comfortable with her adorable appearance, and then once their love for Bondrewd had reached their peak, rip and maim them until they were nothing but a tool to be used for the advancement of progress.

But the interesting thing to keep in mind with all of this is that Bondrewd genuinely loved all of the children that came his way. In his own mind, every child that he grew to love him was someone that he also grew to love in return. But in his own words, that love was only a necessary tool to be sacrificed for the sake of his scientific process. This might seem strange considering his actions, but said actions are not the product of a sane individual. Clearly. For as previously established, to descend into the Abyss requires a mind that isn’t entirely there and is driven by desire, a theme that lies at the core of Made in Abyss’s narrative. But what Bondrewd introduced to us in the events of Idofront is how desire and sacrifice clash with the concept of love.

And in Prushka, we see this in its most tragic form.

She was a child literally born in the Abyss from one of Bondrewd’s Umbra Hands, Black Whistle delvers that contained parts of Bondrewd’s soul as a result of Zoaholic. She was scarred both physically and mentally after suffering the effects of the 5th Layer’s Curse to the point where Guiera considered just getting rid of her. But Bondrewd instead chose to reach his hand out and hug the girl who was barely clinging to life and proclaimed that she would be his daughter. That simple act of kindness, of love, was enough to save her and give her hope for tomorrow. He even gave her Meinya in order to help her cope with her fragile mental state, and at the sign of her first steps to recovery, he expressed nothing but joy and proclaimed that day to be her birthday. He genuinely loved Prushka and she adored and loved him. 

When Riko, Reg and Nanachi arrive at Idofront to confront the man who made Mitty suffer the way she did, we’re greeted by none other than Prushka, who speaks nothing but kind and adoring words for the father that she loved with all of her heart and saw as amazing. Though not aware of what he was doing, she still displayed this genuine adoration for this cruel monster that Nanachi despised. All she can say is words of kindness, recalling how amazing of a dad he is, only for Nanachi to recall the screams of her friend as she took the burden of the Curse forced upon them by his hand. But what’s interesting is that Bondrewd continually praises Nanachi for coming back and for being able to descend once more despite all of the suffering she went through. In fact, when Reg kills Mitty, we see him remark at her light dimming saying that he’s happy for her and is glad that she is finally able to move on.

What you need to understand here is that I am not defending his actions. Far from it, in fact. His beliefs regarding love are far from those of any of the characters in the series, including the cold and cruel Ozen, let alone my own beliefs. But it should be addressed that he genuinely loves the children that he ends up turning into canisters and disfiguring. A major place where this is evident in the fact that he remembers the names, aspirations and emotions of every single child that he used for his experiments. A side note in the manga notes that Bondrewd gives each of his personal artifacts their own names, similar to Riko. The names having so much meaning and thought put into them expresses a level of care and attachment to these objects that he uses to reach forward to the dawn; all important steps in his journey towards progress and his advancement. Those children are equally the same, because while they were used as tools, every one of them were so important in the pursuit of the future to the point that all of them hold a place in Bondrewd’s memory, and that level of care and attachment could be equivalent to love in his eyes.

This much is evident in both Nanachi and Prushka, which can be seen as his finest achievements. Nanachi was the first major step he took in being able to finally find a way to return to the above layers from the 6th that was seen as the point of no return, and in fact, that which changed her wasn’t a Curse as he put it but rather a Blessing. It’s the product of the love and sacrifice of the one who took the Curse’s burden, turning the other into the appearance that they most desire. It’s the product of a selfless love from one to another that’s willing to give all they have so their loved one is able to live. What he did was undeniably cruel, but in his own twisted and disfigured mind, he saw it as a gift. In Prushka, he saw the one he loved as a necessary sacrifice for the advancement of his science. Her overwhelming adoration and a desire to help the light of dawn that saved her was what he needed in order to gain the Blessing of the Abyss, and even in her tortured, dismembered state, she had nothing but love for that father that she wanted to give her life for. 

What’s notable is the inherent contradiction of Bondrewd, his sacrifice and his love. The White Whistles that are made of life reverberating stones are made only with the sacrifice of a loved one. In Lyza the Annihilator’s case it was her late husband. But for Bondrewd, by the deduction of Riko, his White Whistle was made from himself. The love he had for himself and his desires was that which he sacrificed, which highlights more than anything his warped thoughts on the concept of love. All things are merely a tool for progress, even that which he loves with all of his heart. For the sake of progress, he’ll kill and maim and manipulate anyone who can help him achieve that goal, but because those sacrifices are made in love, it’s worth it. His own body is worth sacrificing for the sake of advancement. His own mind being ripped apart by Zoaholic is worth destroying so long as that desire that can continue to march towards the dawn is intact. His own daughter that he loves is worth turning into a tool so long as it allows him to fight against the Curse that threatened his ascension. 

To descend into the Abyss is to reach for your desires knowing that you will never be able to return to the top, leaving behind everything that you may love. It’s to intentionally embrace suffering and the destruction of one’s psyche in order to satiate their curiosity, a trait that Nanachi sees in Riko who continues to descend despite all of the pain she faces. It’s a trait that Nanachi realizes she shares with Bondrewd and even Bondrewd himself acknowledges. But the difference here is two-fold. Riko never sacrificed the ones she loves in order to continue her descent. She never used Reg and Nanachi as tools and instead chose to work together with them, to embrace the descent not alone and not solely for her desire but to be reunited with the one she loves with others that she gains along the way. Whereas Bondrewd was able to rip and tear his body, his comrades and his own children apart in order to take one more step, Riko wasn’t going to sacrifice anything if it meant destroying something that she loved. Her arm was needed if she was to continue to advance, so she wasn’t willing to let it go. The ones she loves that were on the surface wouldn’t be gone because they would always be there for her when she returns. Prushka wanted to go on an adventure, and Riko wanted to take her along. Not sacrifice of oneself or of others but willingness to take risk for the desire that fills one’s heart with others that they form bonds with as they continue to evolve. Whereas with every step that Bondrewd took he lost a part of himself in his own belief of sacrifice and love, Riko would be willing to advance together with that which she holds close in her heart.

This is highlighted in the final battle against Reg and Bondrewd. The Lord of Dawn fought with all of his might to prove the merits of the sacrifices he made from that which he loved, only for the ones who fought together to defeat him in the end. He was at once willing to sacrifice everything yet had been stuck at the 5th layer unable to descend where Riko could. And even in his final moments, he looks at the face of Nanachi and once more displays not cruel words or regret but simply joy that she was able to move forward where he was unwilling to go beyond. And as the remains of his progress and cruelty lay stagnant in Idofront, four children who were made in the Abyss were able to move forward.

The irony of Idofront is that it’s the deepest one can go in the 5th layer before entering the 6th, the point of no return. It’s a gateway that no one can come back from once they enter, and the Lord of Dawn regarded for his progress stood at the entrance unable to enter himself. But a father’s job is not to embark on a journey, but rather it’s to raise his children and make them strong enough to fend for themselves. The four children, Riko, Reg, Nanachi and Prushka, alive in the form of Riko’s White Whistle, were undeniably scarred from his actions. They were faced with suffering no child should be forced to endure. But the world of the Abyss is even more cruel, and for the twisted and evil father who loved his children, his only gift was the strength to keep going despite all odds. To advance towards the dawn despite the risk that awaits them.