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If you are part of the overwhelming majority, you are probably wondering what the hell just happened in the Arena. Ask any questions you have here, and I will answer to the best of my capabilities!

The first test was really simple: if your character gave up or thought it was impossible, they would be disqualified. If your character decided to go for help from the staff or any outsider, they would be disqualified.

Grietje: Has a white horse because her intentions were most noble and she showed the most concern for Anthy as a person rather than as a concept. The white horse represents purity and nobility, and also is shown repeatedly in the series to be the horse of a 'Prince'. Any of the other characters could have had a white horse if they'd shown the same convictions. The golden aura around the horse and its golden hoofprints were physical manifestations of the Power of Dios.

Rachel: Her horse is blood red because of her willingness to actually shed blood for Anthy, and it's the color I associate with sacrifice and determination. She also was given a measure of Dios's power as her desire to save Anthy showed itself more.

Adrian: His horse is ghostly because the horse itself is the vehicle of a savior, and Adrian's princeliness level was pretty low. It was therefore less corporeal than Grietje and Rachel's, and would have offered less protection against the attacking vines had Adrian faltered. Since he was limited in his complexes and assumptions about Anthy, he was unable to manifest a full 'spirit horse'. His horse was diluted in color, the original color would have been purple and red.

Maarten: He is lucky to even have gotten a horse. His intentions were not at all noble and entirely self-centered, focusing completely on the idea that he should save Anthy and that it was his duty to, but with no actual desire to save her as an individual. His pure stubborn determination allowed the horse to form, which is why it sucked energy from him to do it: it was literally being generated from his will, and not from the magic set down in the arena. The color was dark grey because that's seen as a neutral color, neither black nor white, and the eyes glowed golden because what he desired to be was a Prince.



The halo was the Power of Dios manifesting itself, and it was only seen on the horses given that power. Initially, it gave the rider minimal protection against the attacking vines: it would shield the rider from attack only if the rider did not flee or depend on that ability. Against the dragon riders, it allowed them to be safe from an attack from the actual dragon, and allowed protection against the blades of the opponent.



Well, firstly because dragons are kickass. There are metaphorical and fairytale-appropriate reasons: dragons symbolize fear and evil, and they are often the opponents for princes to slay...but I also happen to love dragons.



It was definitely very shades of Sleeping Beauty, but it also went with the rose motif of the school: vines and thorns. The vines were another test against the duelists' resolve, to see if they would be driven off or defeated by the first hurdle. They were meant to pick off the doubtful.



Well, it's really hard to express in words. It was kind of to see what each duelist thought they could offer Anthy. Grietje basically said: "Anything she needs" which was kosher, I guess. XD

Well, this test here was the equivalent of trick question. I purposefully put riders up there that you weren't supposed to have any desire to kill. (Adrian was initially an exception, but eventually I decided to put that particular rider there.) It's not really 'princely' to slaughter your loved ones. And so, Maarten, who was willing to put a sword through his father's head, was disqualified. Well, you say, they weren't *really* their parents/ex-girlfriend. No, they weren't. But there is no real way to prove that.

In the Black Rose Saga, Utena frequently faced people with a burning desire to kill Anthy who happened to look like close friends or fellow classmates. Now, they certainly didn't act like themselves, and it could have been possible that they were strange manifestations of the arena, but the general consensus was that they were real. (The SC didn't share the info on the soul sword pulling, so for all of that she was left in the dark.)

Even if they weren't real, they could have disarmed first and then gone in for a kill if they proceeded to attack. (Which they wouldn't have. You could have won in this event by disarming, slicing the head off of the dragon or otherwise incapacitating the mount if you tried to save the rider afterwards, or here's the kicker: by refusing to kill a loved one or an innocent to save Anthy.) The whole event revolved around the morality of the princely figure. If I'd wanted you guys to kill the opponents, they would have remained faceless, and therefore, less interesting.

Actually, a previous idea was to have the dragons bear no riders, and to simply project horrible feelings reflecting the inner fears of each Duelist, I kind of liked this one better, although it was quite a bit trickier. It helped divine their sense of morality and their personality a lot more than a simple battle with a faceless opponent would have.