It's time to talk about Escanor's death after what happened in chapter 338.
Arthur touched Merlin's boob by his chaotic hand, and he immediately lost that very hand. And the one who ate it was his own pet CATH. Seriously though, this chapter has some implications on the story I used to overlook before, but now is time for some crazy assumptions.
The first question is why Escanor should die? To prove people can get killed in NnT for real? Revival and resurrection is not impossible in that universe. Multiple charactrs like Zaratras, Rou, Ellaine, and Vivian has experienced different forms of it in different circumstances. Not to mention that two of the most important characters, Mel and Ellie, has died and resurrected countless times, enough to make the entire concept of bot h death and resurrection completely pointless. And that there are numerous individuals who can bring the dead back to life.
Escanor died because Nakaba had to put him aside for the time being. He did that in the first arc. He then made Escanor powerless when the Sunshine went back to Mael. And now he is dead. Escanor is not necessarily the strongest in terms of some stupid PL numbers, but how he is defined as a mighty arrogant powerhouse mandated he either win the battles with ease, or lose because of specific situations like night magic, etc. It's always all or nothing, no room for struggle or even progress. Although I love Escanor because of these extraordinary features which are more commonly found in villains rather than protagonists, I can understand how this makes it very difficult for Nakaba to set the stage for some future events. Possessed Heny and Dreyfus, Indura of Favor, and even DK Zel in it's early stages all had no chance against him, so his transient absence gave them the opportunity to put their initial plans in action and as the editorial note mentioned, the mightiest comes late. From a writing standpoint, this turn of events might've gotten repetitive, but as long as Escanor retains his never to be found villain like characteristics as a good guy, I always enjoy more Escanor battles and his beautiful lines. NnT has shown us four rounds of battle against one enemy with the same dynamics each time, so I can't tell if being repetitive is an alien concept in NnT as well.
Escanor was always standing at the extreme limit of his ability. As a human blessed/cursed with Sunshine, all he could do was to accept his power and try to control it better over the time, and we saw some examples of power up for him that were more about a stronger will to fight and protect other than some real mind blowing power up with distinct visible aftermath. His biggest challenge was always that of his multiple personalities and the strange power which resulted in his loneliness. For this character to have a development as big as what happened to Ban, King, or Mel, it's not a bad idea to reestablish the rules governing this character and death/resurrection is a reasonable mean for that purpose.
Back to the chapter, it is another prelude to the bigger event. Merlin is facing some difficult situation and is alone with nobody to understand her feelings. Ellie who defended Derieri has shut her mouth up for a while now, and Mel who USED SDSs to attain his personal goals is accusing Merlin of USING SDSs for her own plans. Escanor supporting Merlin in this situation would lessen the intensity of the situation. Aside from that, now that manga has already past the limit of 40 volumes, there is room for one more final fight. Cath has eaten the Merlinized hand of Arthur and has transformed to an scarier yet vulnerable looking monster. Whoever the villain is, Escanor should be absent at this point once again so that the villain can survive the earlier stages of development.
But is there anything special about Cath? Aside from the fact that cats are close relatives to lions in real world and thus a cat can be reminiscent of a lion as mentioned by
@Mael the strongest and
@Jdmp53 , Cath was also drawn next to Escanor in the column picture of volume 25, and not just that, Cath seems to be pretty aware of Escanor and even looking at him. Like Ban and Ellain (volume 5) or OGowther and Estarossa (volume 27). They are not randomly situated next to one another like how Doll Gowther and Oslo are (volume 8 and 9 collectively). The problem is that there has never been any kind of relationship between Cath and Escanor in the main story, and Cath joined the team before the events of second Vaizel festival, so there is not a temporal relationship to justify the place as well. It's as random looking as OGowther/Esta and knowing there was some strange indirect relationship between Arthur and Escanor in the plot, as well as the apparent similarity between a cat and lion regardless of the plot, I believe there is gonna be a confrontation or interaction between Cath/Cath's master and Escanor implied by symbolic choices and foreshadowed by the volume culomn pic.
Summary:
1. Never touch the private parts of the one who is loved by the strongest.
2. Death is more like a joke in NnT verse, so there is no need to believe in an impactful death when there are many cases of revival and those who can bring the dead back to life.
3. Escanor's absence or powerlessness is more like a technical obligation Nakaba is faced with because of Escanor's unique characteristics. It might even be the reason behind his death.
4. Nakaba can use death/resurrection scenario for Escanor's further development.
5. As a faithful ally and true lover of Merlin, as well as a powerhouse, Escanor should better be absent for the time being. There is nothing suggesting this has to continue forever though.
6. Out of all characters, Cath has become a new enemy. We are yet to know more about him, but there are reasons to believe there is a deeper relationship between Cath and Escanor based on symbolism and a possible foreshadowing, so there's reasonable to expect his return before or near climax of the real fight.
