Discussion Escanor

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

True, Nakaba changed a lot of designs since chapter 1. The sins general appearance (Gowther + Escanor), the weapons the sins use (Ban + Escanor), Diane's face (use to look more mature, but she was changed to becoming more childish as time progressed, the page where the shooting stars fly through the sky... that is probably the best showcase because you see Hendy, Dreyfus, Hauser and Griamore... but, their designs were later changed.
Overall, his design should not be that relevant anyway... i still think something is going to happen to his stache though... it will be cut off eventually and then we will get to see Escanor's face look really young for a 40 year old human for some reason!

Maybe something similar to Ban back in the Baste dungeon? That would be neat.

 

[SpectrumRay16]

Maybe something similar to Ban back in the Baste dungeon? That would be neat.

Against who? dolor? That would be such an insult to him, and we know he is really powerful (Max power probably over 40K), that would be such a kick in the ass for him XD

Creation magic spears lunge at Escanor and he comes out moustacheless... he then gets super angry his moustache was cleaved off and goes mental... thus Dolor was invited to a beatdown.

 

[LivewireToriko]

Will that ever be explained?

The rest got explained or addressed at least.

Diane looks like hers.

Merlin looks like hers.

Ban looks like his.

Gowther' was of his armor instead of him.

King's was of his old man form.

Meliodas' is Estarossa.

Who is Escanor's of?

Was that just a guess as to what he may look like now after a decade, even though it looks nothing like him?

Did fraudrin just not want them to find him?
Or will the old man on Escanor's picture end up being someone different and important to the plot like meliodas' sand estarossa?

 

[Demonspeed]

Maybe that's how he looks when he is at full power.

 

[SpectrumRay16]

My assumed thought was always that the wanted posters are what the sins were meant to look like at some point in time, but, Nakaba may have altered/changed their designs over time.
Diane became more childish, King had the transformation, Gowther lost the armor, Ban cut his hair and Meliodas's was likely always gonna be Estarossa.

It could be that Nakaba has plans to connect the wanted poster to another character, potentially the demon king for example, or Gawain if he appears at all. However, it could also be that Escanor's wanted poster is a poorly sketched version of himself and is not actually accurate because nobody really knew what he looked like. I mean, Guila said in the capital of the dead that Diane was the physically strongest sin (Which turned out to be untrue, because of Esky and Mel), so i would expect no many people to know about Esky's appearance or true power.

There is also the idea that he changes during the peak hours of his power to resemble the wanted poster slightly more, however, i see many resemblances to other characters on it.
It actually reminds me of Denzel (Because of the beard), Escanor (Because of the expression/name) and Matrona (Because of the hair)... so yeah, it could just be a miss mash of features thrown onto a page. It also explains how night Esky was able to survive so long without anyone knowing who he was... because the wanted poster was crap?
That's just my take though!

It'd be interesting to see him look at the wanted poster and point out how badly drawn it actually is though, i mean... if he does that, Hendy might explain they forgot what he looked like or something/the sketch was based off of a vague interpretation of him (like Sanji's from one piece, but, more serious than funny)

 

[Yakkun]

My assumed thought was always that the wanted posters are what the sins were meant to look like at some point in time, but, Nakaba may have altered/changed their designs over time.
Diane became more childish, King had the transformation, Gowther lost the armor, Ban cut his hair and Meliodas's was likely always gonna be Estarossa.

Yeah, that's a likely explanation. Can't expect the author of a long-running series to have every detail planned out already in the beginning.

Aside from that however I always like to look for an in-verse explanation for why certain things happen one way or another. Attributing it to the author changing his mind or making mistakes is always possible but it is also.... kinda easy. And a lazy way of criticizing rather than looking deeper into the matter at hand.

This goes well into the realm of head-canons but that's not necessarily bad.

If we look at the wanted posters issue, we just have to ask when and by whom were they even created? I assume most of them if not all were immediately issued after Dreyfus' took the kingdom with Hendy and declared the Sins public enemy number one and then regularely updated. Some talented artist must have been made to draw those.

And he'd have to draw them from memory and based on what knowledge was around about the Sins. The captain was a famous man but he appeared as a child all the time. I assume the artist reckoned what Mel would look like at the beginning of this story, 10 years after the coup d'etat. Diane appears more ladylike because that's what they assume she would look like. Merlin back then and even now is probably at a physical age range where her appearance didn't change much. King was usually if not always seen in his fat man form, also at an age where he doesn't change much. Escanor's is likely also an estimation of how old he would look now, ten years after the coup (little do they know that he doesn't physically age that much either or not at all, like Meliodas). Ban was already known to be immortal and unchanging due to his long imprisonment and the fact that he drank from the fountain of youth so essentially keeping him as he was is a no-brainer. Gowther was, much like King, mostly seen in his armor, I bet only a few of the Sins even know what he really looked like. Namely, as the flashback of Escanor's suggests, Merlin and Escanor himself.

And there you have it. That's your in-verse explanation, most likely. =P

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

Yeah, that's a likely explanation. Can't expect the author of a long-running series to have every detail planned out already in the beginning.

Aside from that however I always like to look for an in-verse explanation for why certain things happen one way or another. Attributing it to the author changing his mind or making mistakes is always possible but it is also.... kinda easy. And a lazy way of criticizing rather than looking deeper into the matter at hand.

This goes well into the realm of head-canons but that's not necessarily bad.

If we look at the wanted posters issue, we just have to ask when and by whom were they even created? I assume most of them if not all were immediately issued after Dreyfus' took the kingdom with Hendy and declared the Sins public enemy number one and then regularely updated. Some talented artist must have been made to draw those.

And he'd have to draw them from memory and based on what knowledge was around about the Sins. The captain was a famous man but he appeared as a child all the time. I assume the artist reckoned what Mel would look like at the beginning of this story, 10 years after the coup d'etat. Diane appears more ladylike because that's what they assume she would look like. Merlin back then and even now is probably at a physical age range where her appearance didn't change much. King was usually if not always seen in his fat man form, also at an age where he doesn't change much. Escanor's is likely also an estimation of how old he would look now, ten years after the coup (little do they know that he doesn't physically age that much either or not at all, like Meliodas). Ban was already known to be immortal and unchanging due to his long imprisonment and the fact that he drank from the fountain of youth so essentially keeping him as he was is a no-brainer. Gowther was, much like King, mostly seen in his armor, I bet only a few of the Sins even know what he really looked like. Namely, as the flashback of Escanor's suggests, Merlin and Escanor himself.

And there you have it. That's your in-verse explanation, most likely. =P

Err no. The one on Mel's poster is Estarossa, he even has a goatee, and when it comes to Escanor he is 40 now.Does this look like a 40 year old man to you?

By looking at this without knowing Escanor's real appearance,I would say the man in this picture is 60-70 years old. And that he'd be around the same age as Baltra and Denzel.So clearly he doesn't fit the appearance that he should have at 40 years old.

It also makes no sense to put a poster of a person you're looking for in the present, with the appearance they could have in the future.What if they got captured a year after they escaped from the kingdom? Putting such a poster with the projection of their appearance would be completely useless. It makes more sense to put a poster of what they looked like last time they were seen.And to our knowledge the posters weren't updated, because it still has Ban's old haircut, and King's old man appearance.

If it's Dreyfus aka Fraudrin who commissioned them then he's likely to know about Estarossa.Because how would the artist know that Mel would sport a goatee if he "grew up"? So it is Estarossa, and no one else other than Fraudrin would know about him actually, and I explained in before that his goal was to get the sins and Mel in particular as far away from the kingdom as possible. Putting Mel's real face in there would just accomplish the opposite, and I believe the same applies to Escanor since he is the strongest sin during the day.

Both their posters are fake.

 

[Incognitop]

Well if the fan theories that Rosa is Escanor's real mother end up being true, then his wanted poster will most likely be his biological father. Perhaps a member of the goddess clan? Or at the very least a servant to them?


The only thing i have against this theory is that the King and Queen in Escanor's flashback seem to genuinely care for him when he is a baby. They only seem to stop "loving" him is after that transformation...

 

[Yakkun]

Err no. The one on Mel's poster is Estarossa, he even has a goatee, and when it comes to Escanor he is 40 now.Does this look like a 40 year old man to you?

By looking at this without knowing Escanor's real appearance,I would say the man in this picture is 60-70 years old. And that he'd be around the same age as Baltra and Denzel.So clearly he doesn't fit the appearance that he should have at 40 years old.

It also makes no sense to put a poster of a person you're looking for in the present, with the appearance they could have in the future.What if they got captured a year after they escaped from the kingdom? Putting such a poster with the projection of their appearance would be completely useless. It makes more sense to put a poster of what they looked like last time they were seen.And to our knowledge the posters weren't updated, because it still has Ban's old haircut, and King's old man appearance.

If it's Dreyfus aka Fraudrin who commissioned them then he's likely to know about Estarossa.Because how would the artist know that Mel would sport a goatee if he "grew up"? So it is Estarossa, and no one else other than Fraudrin would know about him actually, and I explained in before that his goal was to get the sins and Mel in particular as far away from the kingdom as possible. Putting Mel's real face in there would just accomplish the opposite, and I believe the same applies to Escanor since he is the strongest sin during the day.

Both their posters are fake.

1) I am aware that he looks like Estarossa. But you can't exactly say that Meliodas, if he would age normally, wouldn't biologically look basically the same, since Estarossa is essentially just a "grown-up" version of Meliodas's kid-body.

2) I disagree about Escanor. When you ask me like that, yeah, it does appear like a man in his 40`s to me. What, becaue he has a beard? That makes him old? If you ignore the beard at the chin and the upper lip shadow, that face doesn`t look particularely old. It has the folds and furrows on the forehead like a middle-aged man does, similar to how Dreyfus` face also shows these kind of lines. Beards always tend to make you older. Look at Denzel. That guy is probably not even in his mid-fifties.

3) I never said these editions were the ones that were put up right after the coup d'etat. I said they could have been updated over time to show the progression of ageing and what the wanted criminals would look like NOW. And in that regard this approach totally makes sense.

And that still doesn't explain why Dreyfus would put those things up with the actual intention to look for Estarossa. That pic is probably only there because Meliodas would very likely look just like his brother if he had the same biological age. No one would purposedly put up fake posters for the public to look out for if they ended up completely misleading. Again, the artist that was ordered to make those had to do them with some rough estimations in mind that showed possible similarities to the characters`natural age progression. That doesn`t make them 100% accurate, obviously.

 

[Demonspeed]

I am sure it's one of Escanor's transformations because of this page. Nakaba drew all the Sins here, I don't think he would leave aside Escanor like that. Considering what was said in the last chapter about his power, I think it's possible that he gets this body at his peak but it barely supports it, which can lead to his death.

 

[Yakkun]

Last night or so I dreamed that Escanor at peak would bring out the full power of a goddess clan member during high noon


and would actually turn into a woman XD

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

1) I am aware that he looks like Estarossa. But you can't exactly say that Meliodas, if he would age normally, wouldn't biologically look basically the same, since Estarossa is essentially just a "grown-up" version of Meliodas's kid-body.

But how would the artist know he'd get a beard? That seems rather random to put it there, and then there's Elizabeth's dream which emphasizes on Estarossa passing himself as Mel. She even thought it was Mel.Whoever had the poster made had Estarossa in mind.That much is obvious.

2) I disagree about Escanor. When you ask me like that, yeah, it does appear like a man in his 40`s to me. What, becaue he has a beard? That makes him old? If you ignore the beard at the chin and the upper lip shadow, that face doesn`t look particularely old. It has the folds and furrows on the forehead like a middle-aged man does, similar to how Dreyfus` face also shows these kind of lines. Beards always tend to make you older. Look at Denzel. That guy is probably not even in his mid-fifties.

It's not just the beard. He has huge wrinkles on his forehead and next to his eyes. A 40 year old man isn't that wrinkled.Like I said he looks very much like Baltra and Denzel in that poster. Baltra is 60.
Just look at Baltra's wrinkles (on his forehead)

Do they look familiar? It's the same as Escanor's wanted poster. This is what a 40 year old dude is supposed to look like in the manga

Hendy is 39. And Dreyfus which you have as your avatar is nowhere as being as wrinkled as Escanor's wanted poster. Again the man on the poster looks to be in the same age range as Baltra and even Denzel who has very deep wrinkles as well.

3) I never said these editions were the ones that were put up right after the coup d'etat. I said they could have been updated over time to show the progression of ageing and what the wanted criminals would look like NOW. And in that regard this approach totally makes sense.

That would be assuming a lot, when if anything Ban's poster didn't change, and is still up despite the fact that he surrendered himself at Baste. And it's fallacy to think that they could correctly predict what they would look 10 years after. That's not something achievable by normal means.

And that still doesn't explain why Dreyfus would put those things up with the actual intention to look for Estarossa. That pic is probably only there because Meliodas would very likely look just like his brother if he had the same biological age. No one would purposedly put up fake posters for the public to look out for if they ended up completely misleading. Again, the artist that was ordered to make those had to do them with some rough estimations in mind that showed possible similarities to the characters`natural age progression. That doesn`t make them 100% accurate, obviously.

Who said anything about him looking for Estarossa? And Mel isn't a kid, Suzuki confirmed that he normally looks like that, and he won't grow up. Fraudrin put a fake poster up so people wouldn't recognize the real Meliodas, because he wanted him as far away as possible so he won't interfere with his plans. Since clearly he couldn't defeat him, because Fraudrin had no way of knowing that Merlin stole Mel's power, it was better to orchestrate the coup, while making sure that no one would be able to catch the real Meliodas. It's just a ruse.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 9, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 9, 2016 ---

I am sure it's one of Escanor's transformations because of this page. Nakaba drew all the Sins here, I don't think he would leave aside Escanor like that. Considering what was said in the last chapter about his power, I think it's possible that he gets this body at his peak but it barely supports it, which can lead to his death.

That was right before the Edinburgh chapter.He couldn't possibly disclose the truth about his appearance and the reveal was quite shocking, since not only did he not look old but he looked like a shrimp.So that could be another one of those misleading moments, that and just him changing his mind about what he would look like, and quite frankly he looks too old to be 40.And I don't think it was ever stated that he ages with the sun. And wouldn't that mean that he would get old as it gets close to sunset?And he would reach the peak of his youth at noon?
Please explain to me how he would become old at noon, based on the course of the sun.

 

[SpectrumRay16]

Uh... what did i leave and walk back in on, seriously guys it's alright... people can have different perceptions of age you know
I mean, can you tell that Deyfus is 47 by looking at him, i could not have... mainly because anime/manga don't really like to play by the rules of aging properly :P
I mean, take away Escanor's mustache and he reverts back to his 24 year old self from the vampire of Edinburgh side story... the dude literally hasn't aged past 18 it would seem :/
The mustache is the only think convincing me he is somewhat older!

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 9, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 9, 2016 ---

Last night or so I dreamed that Escanor at peak would bring out the full power of a goddess clan member during high noon

and would actually turn into a woman XD

That would be both cool and creepy at the same time, i'm not sure what to do with that knowledge... i know, request a gender swap from an artist
In all seriousness, i do wonder what he looks like at noon... either his body cannot contain the power and it starts to seep and change him slightly, or there is another factor.
I theorized for the fun of it, what would happen if Escanor took on several attributes of the other clans? Thus making him less human and really not being of a specific clan at all... that would merit the term monster in my opinion.
If he was huge (Giant), was 4 wings (Fairy 2 of which are (demons) and 2 of which are (goddess) clan wings and have his body split in half between light and dark markings? That would merit the term monster in my opinion... however, it would again make me question what the hell his magic is.

Sort of like this:- http://www.dailydesigninspiration.com/drawings-and-illustrations/angel/
What do you think?

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 9, 2016 ---

I am sure it's one of Escanor's transformations because of this page. Nakaba drew all the Sins here, I don't think he would leave aside Escanor like that. Considering what was said in the last chapter about his power, I think it's possible that he gets this body at his peak but it barely supports it, which can lead to his death.

I suppose we will have to wait and see... after all, get rid of the facial hair and the ponytail and it's still the exact same Escanor underneath (He doesn't change that much, based on the way his nose and eyes look in this picture).
However, this poster was also written 9 weeks before the vampires or Edinburgh came out, did it not?
So perhaps this was Nakaba's way of saying that Escanor would show up, but, the fact that he is not shown in full with his face could suggest his appearance may be different?
Do you think it could be possible that when the sins went to meet Zaratras and found him dead, that he looked like that? As in he actually had a ton of facial hair and he grew his hair out for some reason? That is 2 years after Edinburgh, which makes this thought plausible!

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 9, 2016 ---

Please explain to me how he would become old at noon, based on the course of the sun.

It looks to me more of a case of growing facial hair and having longer hair, than getting any older.
In the picture we are referring too... he does not look old, he just looks hair to me. Which, coincides with Escanor having a mustache right now, being the only thing that makes him look old. As i said previously in respone to this picture, it could be Esky had a phase most people saw him in when he actually looked like that... but, i do wonder what the gist is.
Could be the twin souls theory and having that guy inside of Escanor?
Who the heckles knows by this point!

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

Uh... what did i leave and walk back in on, seriously guys it's alright... people can have different perceptions of age you know

It's not about perception, it's how they are portrayed in the manga. 40 something isn't old, it's middle aged, and in the manga we see that at least 2 characters look more like Escanor's poster, and they're around 60. And he looks more like them than his real self or others who have the same age. So the guy on the poster is just older than 40. What's so hard to accept about that? It's likely another person too, that most likely be relevant in the future.
We can speculate about who he is, but instead we started talking about how the posters don't reflect the reality of what the sins look like. 4 out of 7 posters doesn't look like the sin they're supposed to represent.At this point it seems to be done on purpose.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 9, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 9, 2016 ---

It looks to me more of a case of growing facial hair and having longer hair, than getting any older.
In the picture we are referring too... he does not look old, he just looks hair to me. Which, coincides with Escanor having a mustache right now, being the only thing that makes him look old. As i said previously in respone to this picture, it could be Esky had a phase most people saw him in when he actually looked like that... but, i do wonder what the gist is.
Could be the twin souls theory and having that guy inside of Escanor?
Who the heckles knows by this point!

I already explained it's not just the hair, but whatever I guess.

 

[mr_smokey]

Escanor is easily my favorite NnT character. I hope we get more chapters with his past because other than Melodias he would probably have the most interesting backstory.

 

[SpectrumRay16]

It's not about perception, it's how they are portrayed in the manga. 40 something isn't old, it's middle aged, and in the manga we see that at least 2 characters look more like Escanor's poster, and they're around 60. And he looks more like them than his real self or others who have the same age. So the guy on the poster is just older than 40. What's so hard to accept about that? It's likely another person too, that most likely be relevant in the future.
We can speculate about who he is, but instead we started talking about how the posters don't reflect the reality of what the sins look like. 4 out of 7 posters doesn't look like the sin they're supposed to represent.At this point it seems to be done on purpose.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 9, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 9, 2016 ---

I already explained it's not just the hair, but whatever I guess.

I do agree that the wanted poster is more than 40 years of age, the cover on chapter 103, he looks much younger than the wanted poster and then in teh actual plot he looks even younger than that. SO yeah... let's just see what happens
I know, i'm just messing around by this point because the topic is over and done with, Either way, Escanor is gonna give us one hell of an enjoyable read next week, i can sense it

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

Escanor is easily my favorite NnT character. I hope we get more chapters with his past because other than Melodias he would probably have the most interesting backstory.

You couldn't be more right my friend. As the self proclaimed chairwoman of the Escanor fanclub,which consists of two members (me and SpectrumRay16) I welcome you among us.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 9, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 9, 2016 ---

I do agree that the wanted poster is more than 40 years of age, the cover on chapter 103, he looks much younger than the wanted poster and then in teh actual plot he looks even younger than that. SO yeah... let's just see what happens
I know, i'm just messing around by this point because the topic is over and done with, Either way, Escanor is gonna give us one hell of an enjoyable read next week, i can sense it

I also think it's supposed to be a joke and reflect that he's seen by other characters as an old man.The Japanese have a weird way to see 40 year old men as old men. When pretty much everywhere else they're not called that.
So it could be that too.

 

[SpectrumRay16]

You couldn't be more right my friend. As the self proclaimed chairwoman of the Escanor fanclub,which consists of two members (me and SpectrumRay16) I welcome you among us.

I am an honorary member of the club and i am proud of it *Nudge nudge wink wink*
But, yeah... Escanor is bets character in this series so far and every chapter we have gotten in this fight festival with him has just made me like him more... Because of how nice/selfless he is, even in his day form and how he has an incredible amount of power, but, rarely uses... but, when he does... people die XD

 

[Notice me Escanor senpai]

Alright time to talk about something really important, Escanor's past.

So last chapter revealed that he's in fact born a prince in an unknown country. His brother was jealous and he beat him up with a stick which triggers his very first transformation it seems. His father wonders why he looks like that, which shows that he really did change in appearance. Then there's a soothsayer of some sort who says that if they don't kill Escanor the kingdom will be ruined. His parents and family pretty much reject him and want to kill him,and only Rosa helps him by putting him in a barrel and allowing him to escape.

Who the hell is Rosa? From her speech she seems to respect Escanor, and she was around the castle when all those events happened. So my guess is that she's one of Escanor's servants, or even his nurse (wet nurse). What's striking about her is her ressemblance with Merlin, which will come into play later when Escanor meets her.

Other than the hair and the beauty spot they look quite the same, and Escanor has a surprised look on his face. I think he saw the similarity between them, and later on he fell in love because Merlin wasn't afraid him. Escalin gives off a lot of Beauty and the Beast vibes, with all that talk about Escanor's curse, and how every other human saw him as a monster.

And then there's the mystery that is Rhitta. Rhitta's ST is named after a maiden who is loved by the Sun, in Escanor's own words. So who is she? From the looks of it she could be a Goddess, since the figure on Escanor's ST is that of a Goddess clan member without a doubt. I really don't think Escanor would put an anonymous Goddess and name his ST after her, so she must have counted for him. I initially thought it could be his mother, but she doesn't look like she could be a Goddess, and she even says that Escanor is no son of hers.

Although if we take her words literally, maybe he isn't her real son. First of all I find that he looks nothing like his parents, sure they have light hair, but they all have distinctive features like a big nose and squinty eyes, which were reflected in Daymond. So I'm gonna say that those are dominant genes, and yet Escanor's figure is more nice in comparison. He doesn't share those features with his parents. In fact I could even see Rosa being his mother a lot more easier than Escanor's own mother.And she also has light colored hair in the manga.

If Rosa isn't Rhitta, then that can only leave the possibility that he would meet Rhitta after he escaped from his own kingdom. She could be the one who took Escanor in, he was still very young after all. And maybe she even was a Goddess clan member, one that was banished. The loved by the sun part for me means that she was loved by Escanor, since he is literally the sun. So maybe he saw her as his mother and loved her.

Well it's just me trying to piece the puzzle of Escanor's past. Either Rosa is in fact Rhitta, and she could be an ex Goddess, or Rhitta is another person that counted in Escanor's past. And maybe Merlin is the reincarnation of Rosa, or they're related (both could be Goddesses).
I realize that Escanor's words about being a feminist was not a jest, he could be that since quite a few women counted in his past. Rosa and Merlin.

And then there is his sin. The small flashback we had prolly isn't related to his sin. So that should have happened later.

I can't help but feel that it's related to the soothsayer's prophecy of some sort. Did Escanor come back to his kingdom at some point, and he ended up destroying it, because he couldn't control himself after getting triggered by someone? That could be seen as him being prideful.

Or maybe his kingdom was in danger but refused to help them out, out of pride and because they wanted him dead.

Or that even he refused to become King after his brother passed away or something.
And like SpectrumRay16 said in the chapter discussion, Escanor was free when he got recruited, unlike all the other sins before him who were shown to be imprisoned. And Merlin was at his recruitement not just Mel.

It would be definitely interesting to get the full story in his own gaiden.

 

[Yakkun]

You basically brought up all the major points we know about him in one post, lol. I wouldn't really know what to add at this point since I kinda agree with most of it already.

Worthy of note however should be that Escanor is seemingly not from Britania. Not sure if it is worth pointing out at this point but in regards to world building and the fact that the Commandment's tournament introduced more foreigners it could be vital to know about other countries in the future.

Other than that, yeah, I immediately assumed Rosa was his wetnurse. She seems very close to him and has an emotional attachment it would just fit right in. The different looks he has also made me wonder. Is he a royal bastard! Did the queen get pregnant from another man? Are his natural handsome looks part of his curse/miracle and come along with his powers?

It's all just speculation at this point. Him possibly destroying the kingdom in the future is not a far-fetched prophecy seeing how his Sunshine can destroy entire castles in a second when running unchecked. The calamity could have implied such a thing merely as an accident rather than him doing it on purpose, since the seer doesn't specify anything but ultimately it is all the same. He remains a threat to the kingdom. Plus his father commented on his appearance after he broke his brother's arm and we aren't shown anything. Probably because even as a small child, the same thing happens as does now - he bulges up into a gigantic behemoth and was probably a kid with huge bloated muscles. Grotesque and disgusting to his parents.

Rosa probably saw deeper beyond that and still cared for him, this trait and her similarity to Merlin likely made him fall for the sorceress since they sort of have that in common (albeit for different reasons).

Rhitta is still a huge mystery here but I suppose that she is related to whatever is attributed as his sin. His Gaiden will probably reveal it to us.