“this… is where your eyes meet mine”

–Rai

I’m sure I’m not the only one who misses the gentlemen from Noblesse. My personal favorite was Frankenstein but who on God’s good earth could hate Rai?

The entirety of Noblesse’ run was basically him picking up strays and broken things and yes that includes Frankenstein, even though he’s an extremely valuable and exotic broken thing to say the least, he’s still a stray.

Perhaps it was because in many ways Rai was like them. A stray, lost and broken. From the webtoon it is obvious Rai has always been this way and we have little indication as to why. What we do know is even Muzaka could do very little to bring him out of his … “characteristic depression”.

Enough of that however, I could go on discussing Rai’s somber and melancholic nature and the reasons underlying that but today I want to discuss something else.

What happened to Rai at the end of Noblesse? The manhwa left on a rather ominous note, with him possibly dying in the finale only for him to reappear in the epilogue, but the fact that the story ended with Frankenstein about to launch an investigation into what exactly happened to Rai left me understandably curious.

What really happened to Rai? Ever since the beginning we had been receiving subtle hints that Noblesse’ Rai would be a tragic character. As Noblesse progressed it was becoming increasingly apparent that he might not make it past the final chapter.

After his encounter with Jake and Marie and his first few encounters with the union. Every major battle saw him push himself closer and closer to his limit. It was as though the author was telling us to expect Rai’s death.

I for one could not help but ask the question; Is Rai going to die? and I imagine that so many others had it on their minds. Does Rai die? the simple answer is no, but he does come pretty close.

At the end we see Rai appear in class again along side Shinwoo and the gang. For a moment I was certain it was an illusion, then I considered the fact that initially they didn’t seem to even have any memory of him. Something I think Rai intended in the event he did die, meaning the very fact they could see and even remember him meant he was not dead.

The scene also ends with them hugging him so clearly he’s flesh and blood.

I think what is closer to the truth is that he might have been severely injured, or might have even possibly lost his powers. That would explain Frankenstein’s concern at the very end and whatever investigation he was about to launch.

Honestly I think they should have just done what the first lord intended and half the fanbase wanted and shipped him with Raskreia. At least he wouldn’t look so sad all the time.

The impression we were given as Noblesse progressed was that every time Rai used his power it seemed to leech off a little of his life span. The stronger the enemies they encountered the more Rai seemed to exert himself.

It was so bad in certain fights he was bleeding from his eyes and nose while coughing up blood. A sight that by the end of Noblesse we had grown rather accustomed to.

Frankenstein, the crew and the other nobles were already showing concern mid story and for good reason. I personally couldn’t help but get the sense that after every battle he got slightly weaker, but then I realized this did not necessarily mean an inevitable demise.

We had seen this before in his battle with Muzaka. Where Rai exerted himself so much he was rendered comatose for centuries. It was after this realization it dawned to me that every time he used his powers he did exert himself and it did weaken him but, Rai is immortal.

He literally cannot die so like some kind of webtoon Odin he rather enters some kind of Odin sleep. A Rai sleep if you will. What must have happened at the end of the webtoon is that he exerted himself to the point of nearly depleting his strength but he still had a bit to hang around.

Rai would obviously not explain this to Frankenstein because well…. he is Rai… God Rai seriously needs a girlfriend. If only Raskeria would calm down a bit,and if it is not obvious by now, I totally ship them … but the truth is Rai is probably severely hurt by the end of the story and weaker than he has ever been.

He really needs to get some shuteye. Perhaps he did for the few weeks he was missing, but eventually he’ll need to go into another centuries long nap, knowing him…. he won’t do it until someone beats him to an inch of his life the way Muzaka did.

Another reason Rai and Raskreia should get together. She would be more than capable of getting him to sleep when he needs to. Pun unintended :).