Riddle’s Mother’s Influence

Riddle rages seem to be a result of his mother’s influence, with Trey saying that, during Riddle’s orientation, “he was the spitting image of his mom, the way he raged and yelled while the teachers held him back.”

Riddle greets new students sorted in Heartslabyul with, “I am the law,” and reassuring that he is always right is a common theme. During Book 1 he says that he is “the most correct” and, “If you would simply obey me without question, we wouldn’t need to contend so.”

This is possibly a result of his mother’s influence: towards the end of Book 1 he declares, “My mother was right! And that means I’m right too!,” and in a flashback he explains that his mother “was the most accomplished mother in the city, and therefore, the most correct.”

In his dream of Book 7 he says, “I wasn’t wrong. Ruling through discipline and fear is how order is upheld. Mother was right…  was right!”

When Leona asks “What’s so great about getting fawned over by illusions of your own making? It’s gotta make you feel empty inside, right?,” Riddle responds, “It…makes me happy…I’ve proven myself right. Everybody respects me.”

In Book 2 Leona says that Riddle is “maybe some kinda prodigy” and Azul makes a similar comment upon hearing that Riddle has been receiving specialized lessons in magic since the age of three (“You must’ve been quite the prodigy”), but Idia suggests, “His strength is from hard work rather than being some kind of prodigy.”

Riddle says that he wouldn’t call himself a prodigy, explaining, “My mother apparently went to every possible length to ensure I’d be an exceptional mage, starting from when I was in the womb. I can’t be certain if I had any special talent to begin with.”

Riddle’s mother possibly arranging for her unborn son to wield magical abilities beyond what he was meant to be capable of handling is maybe also being reflected in Riddle’s personality: he scolds Azul for being overcautious in Tartarus, with Azul responding, “I still think it’s better than the brute-force option.”

When Azul says he wishes that he had similarly gotten an early start in magic Riddle says that, if he had, he might not have ended up with “the same ambition and drive” that he does today, but it is unclear if this is meant to be a comment on Riddle’s own degree of ambition and drive.

In addition to being “artificially” enhanced, Idia compares Riddle to “a sports pro who’s practiced their whole life” in Book 6. After hearing about the degree to which he was controlled as a child Idia reflects, “That explains some things. No wonder he seemed like an artificially improved sports pro…”

Trey explains the rules that the strict rules imposed upon Riddle throughout his childhood resulted in Riddle believing that “being bound by rigid guidelines—by fear—is a fast-track to personal growth. Because that’s how it worked for him. And on the flip side, he sees the violation of those rules as an inexcusable offense.”

In a flashback we see that, after breaking his mother’s rules, Riddle was forbidden from ever seeing Trey and Chenya again and possibly lost what little freedom he had during an independent study hour, with his mother declaring, “Clearly, you’re not able to handle the freedom of independent study. I need to keep a closer eye on you.” Riddle says, “Because I broke the rules, my favorite part of my day was taken away from me. I vowed to never break my mother’s rules again.” 

While never stated directly, having personally experienced what happens to those who break rules and perhaps not understanding that the rest of the world does not function in the way he was raised, Riddle’s strict rule-enforcement is possibly an extension of trying to protect his dorm’s students of what will happen to them if they make the same mistake he did, telling his students that “It’s not off with their heads because */* want to do that. I do it because rules must never be broken,” “Do you think I enjoy having to do this? You’re the one who broke the rules,” and, “As much as I would like to, I cannot ignore these infractions. It’s for your own sake.” While not confirmed, it is possible that these are also justifications that he learned from his mother.

Knowing the rigid structure and scolding that turned Riddle into what he is and having experienced it once himself, Trey says that he cannot scold Riddle for his actions (as he knows Riddle’s mother does), leading Ace to blame Trey: “You know what his parents did to him, and you know it was wrong, right? Well, now Riddle’s making the exact same mistake that his parents did.”

Towards the end of Book 1 Riddle seems all the more convinced that his upbringing was actually correct, saying, “I guess my mother was right. A man who cannot follow rules is a man who cannot achieve anything.”

Ace then asks, “Yeah, maybe you had some rigid upbringing from a relentless helicopter-mom. Is that all you are? An extension of her? Can’t you think for yourself?

When Trey finally stands up against Riddle, Riddle responds, “Do you know how much I’ve suffered for this?!”

In a flashback Riddle asks why he can’t break the strict rules that his mother imposes on his diet just once so that he might have a strawberry tart on his birthday, says he wants to make friends, and asks, “What rule do I need to follow to make this pain go away?”

During the Lantern event Riddle refuses to break a rule set by Crowley that they are not to leave the library through a window. He concedes to helping the other students escape but refuses to follow them, saying that he “could never break the rules.”

Deuce tries to find a workaround by pointing out that, if he does not defy Crowley then he will be breaking one of the rules of the Queen of Hearts by not having Trey serve him tea by midnight. Riddle decides to simply call for Trey but Jack says, “I refuse to watch you use the rules as an excuse to give up. It’s embarrassing.” 

Riddle is eventually convinced by Deuce, deciding that as “there is technically no school regulation against leaving through a library window” and he is the housewarden of Heartslabyul, dorm rules must take precedence over a verbal commitment.

It is then revealed that it was possibly less-so Crowley’s verbal instructions that were holding him back, and it was actually his mother. Riddle says that he has been determined never to jump out a window ever again, not after he was caught playing with Trey and Chenya, whom he joined by leaving out of a window, which resulted in lasting trauma for both himself and for Trey.

Riddle wonders, “Did the Princess in the Tower feel such inner turmoil? Perhaps she deeply regretted turning her back on her mother. Nonetheless… I have people waiting for me outside. As the housewarden of Heartslabyul, I cannot betray their trust. So for today, for this moment…you’ll understand, won’t you, Mother?”

In Book 1 Riddle states, “If there were no penalties, no one would follow the rules,” which was possibly a lesson learned from his mother: Dduring Eternity Float Riddle responds to a story from Jade’s childhood with “It would hardly be a wonder if you had received a harsh punishment.” Jade’s mother responds, “You must come from a strict family, Riddle.”

After seeing the floating lanterns Riddle reflects, “So this is the sight that made the Princess in the Tower break her promise to the one she believed to be her mother. A dream you can’t help dreaming even when it’s against the rules. A longing so powerful it drives you to action. I wonder if the day will ever come when I encounter something that turns my prior life upside-down like that…”

Silver tells Riddle about a time when, as a child, he accidentally fell asleep while trying to cook over a wood-burning fire. Riddle asks, “I’m guessing he gave you a stern talking-to?,” and when Silver responds, “No, actually. He just smiled and said he was glad | was unharmed,” Riddle says, “Your father sounds like a kind man indeed…”

In Book 2 Riddle leaves the investigation into spelldrive player injuries to make sure that no one is breaking dorm rules in his absence, and he punishes students for “besmirching the dignity of Night Raven College” in Book 5 with collars. 

In a conversation with Jade, Riddle says, “Anyone who breaks a contract should be punished, and swiftly.”

In his dream of Book 7 Riddle punishes students of darkness who immediately concede to him upon threat of additional punishments. Riddle observes, “Yes, I wasn’t wrong. Ruling through discipline and fear is how order is upheld. Mother was right… I was right!”

When Trey attempts to awaken him a darkness-Ace assures him, “You’re only being strict for our benefit. We all understand that!,” similar to a dorm-uniform line by Deuce, who says, “The rules at Heartslabyul are very strict, but a lot of them are for our own good…probably.” In Book 1 Riddle himself says, “As much as I would like to, I cannot ignore these infractions. It’s for your own sake.”

Trey says that working together “builds unity” among the students of Heartslabyul but Ace responds, “if by “unity,” you mean we’re all unified in our fear of the housewarden yelling ‘Off With Your Heads!’”

Jack observes that Riddle’s team is working hard during Port Fest, and Riddle explains, “The upperclassmen must impart the importance of order and discipline to the younger students. And naturally, they must adhere to strict standards as well, in order to serve as a role model for proper comportment. In other words, we’re just doing what we’re supposed to do.” (Grim: “I’m pretty sure Class E’s the only one acting this uptight about the whole thing.”)

When a student loses some change from the till, however, Riddle assembles the entire team to find it, saying, “I trust you all know what will happen if we do not, yes?,” and the students exclaim, “Not the collar again!” and “I had enough of that LAST time!,” revealing how it is that Riddle has been keeping them in line.

During the Lantern event Riddle doubts that the students of Heartslabyul are doing their part to free the library group: “I question whether anyone there would act without the threat of punishment hanging over their head. I’m grateful to my mother…and that’s exactly why I’m so worried about the lanterns. Will everyone do their part without me watching over them? Without any threat of punishment?”

Riddle tries to send an email declaring that there will be “harsh punishment” for any Heartslabyul student who fails to meet a lantern-making quota. Deuce interrupts and Riddle asks, “Do you believe others like…hm…say, Ace, would voluntarily make lanterns for us?”

Jack and Kalim try to reassure Riddle that the students will pull through since the boss has given the orders, but Riddle responds, “But Heartslabyul isn’t like Savanaclaw. Or like Scarabia.”

Back at Heartslabyul the students confirm Riddle’s concerns: when Trey asks, “Wouldn’t it be terrible if Riddle and Deuce never came back to the dorm?,” they respond, “It’d be nice not having someone constantly breathing down our necks about the rules for once.”

After some discussion Heartlsabyul’s students admit that while they still have issue with Riddle, their lives are better now than they were before, and that Riddle’s help with test prep have improved their grades. When Trey points out that there is a study group planned for the following day for Riddle to tutor those who flunked their tests Ace leads the group in helping to bring back Riddle, the “weirdo to put in a bunch of work for people who never even said they needed help.”

At the end of the event it is revealed that Heartslabyul made the most lanterns out of all of NRC’s dorms. Riddle credits Trey and Cater but Deuce responds, “Heartslabyul’s solidarity deserves some of the credit too!” 

Riddle reflects, “I suppose you’re right. They all came together without any threat of punishment. Perhaps it’s because of my strict guidance. Perhaps everyone fell in line because they know I’m right. But…what if there was some other reason…?”

In what is possibly meant to be symbolic, Deuce comments on how the princess in the tower must have struggled under the weight of her hair, imposed upon her by the witch, but perhaps she “really did see the witch as a kindly mother she could trust.” Riddle responds, “Still, no matter how much she cared for her hair, this is such an impediment. I can barely walk like this,” and cuts it off, saying, “I have no more need for long hair,” and declaring they are to return to the dorm quickly as he has much to do.

Trey says that, as a child, Riddle “acted very mature and reserved. And he knew the names of everything-plants, bugs, you name it.”

In a flashback we see a child-Riddle studying classical magic under his mother’s supervision, told to read 50 pages of a “philosophy of language” book, have a scheduled hour of independent study and a potionology lesson. Riddle explains, “I was studying every possible subject, scheduled down to the minute. When I didn’t understand something, the lesson was extended until I did. That was my ‘normal’.”

The rigid schedule of Riddle’s childhood seems to be influencing his everyday life at Heartslabyul: he says that, in the mornings, he patrols the dorm before the other students wake up and irons his shirt for the day, and without such tasks on the deserted island of the Stitch event he doesn’t know what to do with himself.

Lilia says, “You could stand to have more fun and enjoy our time here for what it is,” and Riddle responds, “Easier said than done. I still have reservations about spending my time unproductively.”

In Book 6 Riddle declines an invitation to play video games because of his mother, saying, “My mother told me video games are addictive and can hurt academic performance.” (Idia manages to goad him into playing, regardless.)

When asked if he took any private lessons before attending NRC Riddle responds, “I learned a great deal from the drills my mother put me through.”

Asked to describe the tasks he was assigned as a child Ridlde says, “Simple things at first. Putting away books after I’d read them, or changing my clothes. When I was five or so, I tired myself out completely trying to complete a task through trial and error and ended up falling asleep. Mother was quite cross when she found me and gave me an even greater challenge.”

Vil says, “Obviously your mother took your education seriously…but that seems quite strict for such a young child.”

Riddle replies, “Still…as I worked to complete her tasks, I could feel myself getting better. I began to challenge myself to finish everything before she came back. I still remember how proud I was the first time I managed it.”

Riddle was also trained in social dancing as a child, saying, “I learned it from my mother, as part of my rigorous education,” and says that he also took gymnastics lessons: “It was simple muscle-building exercises for younger children -things you’d do with a mat or vaulting boxes…Physical development is supposed to lead to better concentration, so it was a necessary lesson for my studies. Though by the time I was four, I’d already achieved that goal, so I quit.”

We see Riddle dance during Spectral Soiree, Eternity Float, the Lantern Event, Glorious Masquerade and the Stitch Event. 

Riddle says that he always writes out spell structures by hand rather than using a keyboard and seems impressed by Idia’s tablet, which allows him to do computer programming by hand.

During his second birthday vignette Riddle explains that he is “very particular about making sure (his bedroom is) a conducive environment for studying.”

Riddle says, “I have a storage system that allows me to locate any reference books or other materials I might need at a glance. And for my desk lamp, I ordered one with a bulb that’s gentle on the eyes and suitable for long periods spent at the desk.”

While not confirmed to be a direct influence of his mother, Riddle is often repeating variations of his opinion that “A student shouldn’t have much time left over after they’ve spent an appropriate amount of time with studies or club activities.”

In Riddle’s dream of Book 7 he does not attend school at all, saying, “I HAAATE school and studying! School is so boring and stifling. Going there is such a waste of time!…If you spend all your time behind a desk, all the fun things to do in the world will pass you by. That’s the last thing I want!”

After awakening Riddle says that, while his mother would have yelled at him so much that he’d wish he’d never woken up at all if he had ever fallen asleep as she read to him, her “style of education is what made (him) the strong, exceptional individual (he is) today.”

Riddle says, “My parents told me never to leave the house without a tie,” so his clothing preferences might come from them as well: he says, “I generally prefer a smart, casual look, and avoid dressing non-formally,” he demands that Jack button up his “flashy shirt” during the Stitch event, and in Book 2 he straightens the prefect’s crooked tie.

On the subject of cutting his hair Riddle says that he “would go to the barber’s once a month,” with his mother scheduling appointments on his behalf. Riddle explains, “It was always at the same time, with the same person, and the same cut and style. It’s important for everything to look neat and trim,” a belief that possibly came from his mother.

Riddle says that, in order to keep his hair short, he would cut it himself when he first came to NRC but “Cater didn’t want (him) doing it for some reason…” and now he goes to a barber in town like everyone else (Jamil: “You should probably thank Cater for that”).

During his time playing Beach Flags Riddle reveals that he does not know how to slide in the sand. When Floyd says, “Just kick off into the sand like you would into the water” Riddle responds, “When entering water, you should acclimate yourself gradually, one foot at a time!”

It is not confirmed that this is directly of his mother’s influence but Lilia observes, “He’s got some rather stubborn ideas.”

Ace is surprised to learn that Riddle is unfamiliar with popular trends, asking, “How do you…even manage to hold a conversation with anyone?” Riddle says, “I’ve never been inconvenienced for not knowing what’s in vogue before,” and when Ace tries to explain the popularity of Cater’s smartphone case design Riddle refuses to listen, saying, “I don’t recall asking for your help! And besides which, did I not just tell you that l’ve never once been inconvenienced by this gap in knowledge?”

Later, however, Riddle reflects, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to look into it a little.”

Riddle is the Management Committee Chairman for the VDC event of Book 5 and is surprised by the amount of applications from external media outlets they receive to cover the program, saying, “I was envisioning something more along the lines of a simple choral contest.”

Vil and Azul explain the prestige of the competition and Riddle responds, “I never knew.” While Riddle was aware that Vil is involved in the entertainment industry, after hearing details from Azul he says, “I didn’t know he was THAT famous.”

Riddle’s mother’s influence does not end with Riddle himself: she also seems to have left a profound impact on Trey. Trey explains that Riddle’s mother is “in a different league” and, at one point, lectured Trey’s entire family for five hours after discovering Riddle eating a strawberry tart at their shop.

Trey says that while it was scary at the time because he’d had no idea why he was being yelled at, “it’s funny to look back on now,” but in Book 7 we learn that it may have affected him more than he realizes.

When Cater comments on Trey always being on “the long-suffering side” Trey says, “You’d be the same if you’d met Riddle’s mother.”

In Book 1 Trey says that just he cannot bring himself to scold Riddle despite Riddle’s actions, which might tie into his experience with Riddle’s mother: he says he felt “extra guilty when (he) thought about how Riddle was getting reamed even worse than (he) was” after the incident with the tart, and, “I can’t even imagine how hard he must have had it.” Did he refuse to reprimand Riddle in Book 1 because he did not want to become like Riddle’s mother?

In Book 1 Riddle has a line of, “All any of you care about is doing what YOU want to do,” possibly also a reflection of his mother’s lectures.

Trey explains that “What (Riddle) ate, what he wore, what soap he used, who his friends were—every last detail had been predetermined for him.” In Book 7 a darkness-version of Riddle’s mother declares that she “will pick out the best of friends for (Riddle), we see Riddle’s diet being controlled to the gram in a flashback, and Riddle himself says that he is under instructions by his parents to “never to leave the house without a tie.”

Trey again explains the incident with Riddle’s mother during Book 7, saying, “the family lecture part is just a funny anecdote now,” but Cater quietly comments, “Trey might be downplaying it, but that had to be traumatic for him, right?,” and  Idia responds, “If that was me, I’d never go near Riddle again. How does Trey manage to be his vice housewarden in reality? Does he have literal nerves of steel?”

Despite his claims of the incident being “funny to look back on now,” after learning that he will be meeting Riddle’s mother n his dream Cater expresses concern that Trey looks “pretty rough.” Trey considers throwing out the strawberry tart that he had brought but Cater says, “I think it’s pretty likely his dream-mom isn’t strict or overbearing.” Trey concedes, responding, “if she found out (Riddle had) gotten in trouble with the police, she’d never let him out of the house ever again.”

Cater says, “If I were in your shoes, I’d never have agreed to go to Riddle’s house to start with.”

(Silver: “Everyone in Heartslabyul seems terrified of Riddle’s mother.”)

Trey struggles with the dichotomy between his experience with Riddle’s real-life mother and the mother of Riddle’s dream (“His real-life mother would never react so happily if Riddle brought friends over”), stopping in the doorway of Riddle’s home. When Riddle notices the strawberry tart he has brought he immediately responds, “I knew it was bad idea! I’ll get rid of it right now!,” and when Riddle reveals the tart to the mother of his dream Trey asks, “Is it safe to tell her that?!”

After it is revealed that Riddle in his dream is not only allowed to eat tarts from the Clover family’s patisserie but he has a slice of tart twice a week, Trey is relieved, saying, “My heart was about to leap out of my chest! I was ready for his mom to start shrieking in outrage…”

Ortho observes, “I’m detecting fluctuations in your vital signs arising from an extreme state of tension.

I recommend sitting down and resting.” Trey responds, “I can’t believe myself… I’m not a kid anymore. Before this, I was treating the whole experience as a funny anecdote in hindsight. But I guess I still tense up in fear of her yelling at me with that angry glower again…”