Discussion Biggest Plot Hole in NNT (as of 311)

[OtakuFreak]

TL.DR AT BOTTOM

The main issue/resolution of the series has been for the main characters finding a way to break the curses that the Gods placed on them. Now, we assumed (I still do given the contradictory evidence) that the Demon King cursed Meliodas whilst the Supreme Deity did the same to her daughter. After all, that made the most sense and most of the character interactions/conversations besides one/two supported this. Yet according to Chapter 311:

Spoiler: Chapter 311

Meliodas curse was given to him from the Supreme Deity all this time whilst Elizabeth's was bestowed upon her by the Demon King. Now, this itself is infuriating enough considering it makes no sense and contradicts 90 chapters worth of progression, but let's ignore that and focus on the plot hole this ''twist'' created.

Remember when the Supreme Deity blessed Merlin with a specific gift that was capable of great feats? That's right! The exact blessing she was bestowed is the solution to the entire dilemma our main characters have been faced with for the past 3000 years. Allow me to refresh your mind:

Spoiler: Chapter 249

''The Supreme Deity bestowed the child divine protection, able to nullify any and all manner of dark curses and commandments''.

Now, we understand that this isn't protection but merely the ability to cancel/dispel any dark curse or commandment, Elizabeth's curse being from the Demon King directly makes it demonic (or dark) and as such should be 100% capable of being broken by Merlin's blessing. But ah, I already see the arguments coming my way:

Q) Well even if this is true, Merlin can break the curse but it will be restored anyway due to the Demon King still existing. A) Sure, hypothetically the curse would be restored, but what was stopping Meliodas/Merlin from using this method to break the curse(s) 3000 years ago? They didn't even consider Merlin as a potential solution when she had the ability to break it all along and assumed becoming Demon King was the only way to break it. HAD they attempted this method and realised the curse reformed/restored itself, then it would've avoided the entire meaningless plot/war that happened so Meliodas can become Demon King JUST for the curse to be restored.

Q) She can only break curses/commandments on herself, not other people. A) Meh, speculation at best since the explanation/evidence directly contradict each other. Apparently she has divine protection yet we've seen her become ill by a demonic curse by Zeldris and break those on other people.

TL.DR Merlin's gift from the Supreme Deity allows her to break any demonic curse. Elizabeth's curse to be revealed to be from the Demon King (and thus demonic) essentially means there was a method right next to Meliodas all along in breaking the curse yet he decided the only method was becoming DK himself.

 

[Seven777]

Meliodas said you need equivalent power, Merlin does not fit that criteria, it's as simple as that. You are massively overthinking this. Oh and it's her divine protection that nullifies curses, she was not given that ability herself. Saying that she can extend that protection to other people is speculation at best.

 

[OtakuFreak]

Meliodas said you need equivalent power, Merlin does not fit that criteria, it's as simple as that

Yet it was never attempted?

You are massively overthinking this. Oh and it's her divine protection that nullifies curses, she was not given that ability herself. Saying that she can extend that protection to other people is speculation at best.

It's not divine protection though, just an ability for her to cancel a dark curse/commandment.

We have seen her apply this ability to other people.

 

[Seven777]

Yet it was never attempted?

Says who? She already knew how to reveal the curses, she's likely done her research.

It's not divine protection though, just an ability for her to cancel a dark curse/commandment.

We have seen her apply this ability to other people.

Except that is literally what Nakaba calls it, divine protection that nullifies curses.

As for her applying it to other people, nowhere is it said or implied that these instances had anything to do with the SD's blessing, if anything it's always been suggested as being possible through her vast knowledge of the dark arts, like when she cured Howzer she was talking about wanting to investigate the curse further and then muttered a spell to cure him. Besides, Elizabeth can remove curses too, it doesn't have to be a god given technique.

 

[Merlin918]

TL.DR AT BOTTOM

The main issue/resolution of the series has been for the main characters finding a way to break the curses that the Gods placed on them. Now, we assumed (I still do given the contradictory evidence) that the Demon King cursed Meliodas whilst the Supreme Deity did the same to her daughter. After all, that made the most sense and most of the character interactions/conversations besides one/two supported this. Yet according to Chapter 311:

Spoiler: Chapter 311

Meliodas curse was given to him from the Supreme Deity all this time whilst Elizabeth's was bestowed upon her by the Demon King. Now, this itself is infuriating enough considering it makes no sense and contradicts 90 chapters worth of progression, but let's ignore that and focus on the plot hole this ''twist'' created.

Remember when the Supreme Deity blessed Merlin with a specific gift that was capable of great feats? That's right! The exact blessing she was bestowed is the solution to the entire dilemma our main characters have been faced with for the past 3000 years. Allow me to refresh your mind:

Spoiler: Chapter 249

''The Supreme Deity bestowed the child divine protection, able to nullify any and all manner of dark curses and commandments''.

Now, we understand that this isn't protection but merely the ability to cancel/dispel any dark curse or commandment, Elizabeth's curse being from the Demon King directly makes it demonic (or dark) and as such should be 100% capable of being broken by Merlin's blessing. But ah, I already see the arguments coming my way:

Q) Well even if this is true, Merlin can break the curse but it will be restored anyway due to the Demon King still existing. A) Sure, hypothetically the curse would be restored, but what was stopping Meliodas/Merlin from using this method to break the curse(s) 3000 years ago? They didn't even consider Merlin as a potential solution when she had the ability to break it all along and assumed becoming Demon King was the only way to break it. HAD they attempted this method and realised the curse reformed/restored itself, then it would've avoided the entire meaningless plot/war that happened so Meliodas can become Demon King JUST for the curse to be restored.

Q) She can only break curses/commandments on herself, not other people. A) Meh, speculation at best since the explanation/evidence directly contradict each other. Apparently she has divine protection yet we've seen her become ill by a demonic curse by Zeldris and break those on other people.

TL.DR Merlin's gift from the Supreme Deity allows her to break any demonic curse. Elizabeth's curse to be revealed to be from the Demon King (and thus demonic) essentially means there was a method right next to Meliodas all along in breaking the curse yet he decided the only method was becoming DK himself.

She has a resistance to curses, but not immunity. She would die if she triggered a specificially lethal one like Faith which is not lifespan based. She can dispel most spells with Absolute Cancel, that's how she got rid of her petrification, but that probably only works because the source of the curse(Garan) is not present, and due to her convenient soul transfer abilities. I doubt absolute cancel will work on Mel and Liz's curses, they are just too strong for her to break. Similar to how absolute cancel cannot dispel the dark barrier that guarded the cocoon, it is just too strong, even though she probably dispel things a few times stronger than her pl due to her great skill in it.

I mostly agree with Seven that the resistance to curses she was granted probably can't be applied to others, it is just a blessing bestowed on her. It basically makes a commandment or any curse be less efficient, but her PL is so low that she still has no way to be immune, it is not like she has a Grace. I know you are not arguing that she is immune though.

The bigger plothole is probably Mel's OG magic and why he didn't try it before, if the DK is so easy to defeat.

 

[Seven777]

The bigger plothole is probably Mel's OG magic and why he didn't try it before, if the DK is so easy to defeat.

Maybe he was too weak to access it earlier, or was too weak for it to make a difference. Emo Mel far surpassed any previous version of Meliodas, able to clash swords with the DK, he may even have been close to Ban level, his OG magic could have just pushed him even further beyond.

 

[Merlin918]

Maybe he was too weak to access it earlier, or was too weak for it to make a difference. Emo Mel far surpassed any previous version of Meliodas, able to clash swords with the DK, he may even have been close to Ban level, his OG magic could have just pushed him even further beyond.

But the DK said he was too afraid, and this isn't the first time he used it, if the DK knows about it. Nakaba could have said the OG magic was disabled by the curse but he didn't. He could also say Mel was fully able to dispel it but would be forced to return to Purgatory and thus have to fight DK. All he has to do is say Mel assumed the DK would win and kill him and re-apply the curse.

 

[Arjuna]

Meliodas didn't use Original Magic because of Nakaba's bad writing, nothing more nothing less.

 

[Merlin918]

Meliodas didn't use Original Magic because of Nakaba's bad writing, nothing more nothing less.

It is true though that his writing has set up a situation where Meliodas would be in an inescapable death match in Purgatory with the DK as soon as he dispelled the curse, or rather 1 day later. If he cannot 1v1 the DK, he just dies and never sees Elizabeth again, as the only way to stay with her is essentially becoming the new DK and ruling the demon realm, so that nobody can kill her off, as many demons would surely want to.

But seeing as how the DK seems like he's fodder, Mel could probably 1v1 him and then conquer the demon realm all on his own lol.

 

[Seven777]

It is true though that his writing has set up a situation where Meliodas would be in an inescapable death match in Purgatory with the DK as soon as he dispelled the curse, or rather 1 day later. If he cannot 1v1 the DK, he just dies and never sees Elizabeth again, as the only way to stay with her is essentially becoming the new DK and ruling the demon realm, so that nobody can kill her off, as many demons would surely want to.

But seeing as how the DK seems like he's fodder, Mel could probably 1v1 him and then conquer the demon realm all on his own lol.

Meh, we'll see how it turns out, the story isn't over yet and we know precious little about Mel's magic other than that it gives him a lot of power and a fancy new outfit.

 

[Samael Morningstar]

In ch 224 we saw SD fight meliodas and DK fighting Elizabeth so it's pretty clear that DK cursef Elizabeth and SD cursed meliodas

 

[Seven777]

I always thought it was a combination of the two. What i'd like to see is Meliodas getting slain in the near future, only to reveal his curse is still active too, then rematch against big daddy DK.

 

[AvatarReiko]

What I never understood is how Merlin was petrified by Gallan's truth if she supposedly has immunity to curses and commandments

Another potential plot hole is why AM Mel went through the hassle of assimilating the commandments and obtaining the DK power if he had the power all along. It just makes him look like a moron if he could have removed Eli's curse on the spot back in chapters 249. The only thing that makes sense is that Nakaba retconned it

 

[Merlin918]

What I never understood is how Merlin was petrified by Gallan's truth if she supposedly has immunity to curses and commandments

Another potential plot hole is why AM Mel went through the hassle of assimilating the commandments and obtaining the DK power if he had the power all along. It just makes him look like a moron if he could have removed Eli's curse on the spot back in chapters 249. The only thing that makes sense is that Nakaba retconned it

Resistance not immunity. Mel might not have been able to use the OG magic without his soul, although it does seem like nakaba just introduced it out of nowhere.

 

[Son Detective Asurei]

TL.DR AT BOTTOM

The main issue/resolution of the series has been for the main characters finding a way to break the curses that the Gods placed on them. Now, we assumed (I still do given the contradictory evidence) that the Demon King cursed Meliodas whilst the Supreme Deity did the same to her daughter. After all, that made the most sense and most of the character interactions/conversations besides one/two supported this. Yet according to Chapter 311:

Spoiler: Chapter 311

Meliodas curse was given to him from the Supreme Deity all this time whilst Elizabeth's was bestowed upon her by the Demon King. Now, this itself is infuriating enough considering it makes no sense and contradicts 90 chapters worth of progression, but let's ignore that and focus on the plot hole this ''twist'' created.

Remember when the Supreme Deity blessed Merlin with a specific gift that was capable of great feats? That's right! The exact blessing she was bestowed is the solution to the entire dilemma our main characters have been faced with for the past 3000 years. Allow me to refresh your mind:

Spoiler: Chapter 249

''The Supreme Deity bestowed the child divine protection, able to nullify any and all manner of dark curses and commandments''.

Now, we understand that this isn't protection but merely the ability to cancel/dispel any dark curse or commandment, Elizabeth's curse being from the Demon King directly makes it demonic (or dark) and as such should be 100% capable of being broken by Merlin's blessing. But ah, I already see the arguments coming my way:

Q) Well even if this is true, Merlin can break the curse but it will be restored anyway due to the Demon King still existing. A) Sure, hypothetically the curse would be restored, but what was stopping Meliodas/Merlin from using this method to break the curse(s) 3000 years ago? They didn't even consider Merlin as a potential solution when she had the ability to break it all along and assumed becoming Demon King was the only way to break it. HAD they attempted this method and realised the curse reformed/restored itself, then it would've avoided the entire meaningless plot/war that happened so Meliodas can become Demon King JUST for the curse to be restored.

Q) She can only break curses/commandments on herself, not other people. A) Meh, speculation at best since the explanation/evidence directly contradict each other. Apparently she has divine protection yet we've seen her become ill by a demonic curse by Zeldris and break those on other people.

TL.DR Merlin's gift from the Supreme Deity allows her to break any demonic curse. Elizabeth's curse to be revealed to be from the Demon King (and thus demonic) essentially means there was a method right next to Meliodas all along in breaking the curse yet he decided the only method was becoming DK himself.

Your point is completely true but you forget one thing. In chapter 254 or 255, Ludoshel had stated that the Supreme Deity had placed her curse upon her and could remove it if she desired but that is not the biggest plothole.

The Biggest plothole in the story is what happened in chapter 311 where we find out that the Commandments were conveniently lying around and that Meliodas broke their curses without them which pretty much trolls the entire series.

 

[Son Detective Asurei]

No it's just not an inconsistency. It's discussed in other threads before. The one who broke the curses was Mel + OG magic, the very Mel who threw his balls at DK's face.
When his emotions were stuck in purgatory, AM Mel who was an incomplete version of Meliodas mistakenly believed that by absorbing 10 decrees, he would become as powerful as DK. He didn't know he would become DK himself.

Mel + 10C = DK =/= god tier Meliodas
Mel + OG magic = god tier Meliodas

We can even safely assume that OG Mel overpowers half DK (10 C), so OG Mel doesn't need the decrees to dispel the curses to begin with.

Ok but here is the problem with that. Meliodas alongside Ban both got consistently defeated by the DK, plus Meliodas lost to him in chapter 224. Plus, here is the inconsistency. Meliodas could have broke the curses to begin with at the get go. So it pretty much makes almost 200 chapters useless

 

[Son Detective Asurei]

Meliodas was defeated simply because he didn't use his magic back then, and it was Mel and Eli vs SD and DK, so two gods had still an overwhelming force. AND Meliodas clearly didn't want to use such a powerful magic at any cost 3000 years ago. It was not until recently that he activated it as a last resort because he couldn't tolerate the curses anymore.

His fear of using OG magic for past 3000 years isn't actually an inconsistency too. It's a weakness of a plot, but his fear of losing Eli is completely understandable. He wanted to remain by Eli's side in a world suitable for her. By becoming demon king, he should either leave her for all the eternity, or bring her to the nasty realm of filthy demons filled with miasma and indura as Merlin explained.

It could make it useless if NS didn't have a plan B. If chapter 310 was in fact the end, the entire manga would be meaningless, but he somehow managed to revive NnT by proving that it's not that easy to break the curses. The method he used to revive DK may seem random, but the fact that half of DK and the spirit pf SD are still alive and active justifies it to some extents. But useless still isn't inconsistent. NS could handle the whole situation better, but as long as major aspects of his story remain intact, I can ignore some minor inconsistencies like those related to power levels, who cursed who, who is stronger, and so on.

True yet at the same time it really is an a**pull because he explains off the bat without kind of foreshadowing or explaining much earlier. In other words, it is just there to justify the plotholes and problems hd created in the Holy War Arc.

 

[kkck]

To be fair, we've known elizabeth's curse was placed by the demon king since the DK ordered zeldris to make meliodas into the DK. Around the time chandler and cusack appeared.

 

[Robso98]

To be fair, we've known elizabeth's curse was placed by the demon king since the DK ordered zeldris to make meliodas into the DK. Around the time chandler and cusack appeared.

The problem is, later Ryudoshel stated that it was Supereme Deity who cursed Elizabeth, and she may even consider lifting curse, if Eli help them fighting Mel.

 

[kkck]

The problem is, later Ryudoshel stated that it was Supereme Deity who cursed Elizabeth, and she may even consider lifting curse, if Eli help them fighting Mel.

Ludociel being wrong about something is not quite the same as a plot hole. Based on how things have turned out it wouldn't even be all that strange if he couldn't have communicated with the supreme deity even if he wanted to.