Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime)/WMG/Open Two

=== This is a list of Wild Mass Guesses which are still possibly true. Just for Fun and silly guesses go on the silly page. If a WMG is Jossed, please move it to the jossed page, if it is Confirmed, please move it to the confirmed page. ===

Please add new entries to the bottom of the page.

Each Wolkenritter is based on a Public Domain Character

 * Signum = Archangel Michael (leader role, Flaming Sword, generally associated with fire, grows wings when in unison with Agito)
 * Vita = Thor (Redheaded Hero+Fiery Redhead, wields a hammer that changes size, minus the lightning)
 * Shamal = Lady of the Lake (apparently, in name only; I admit this is the weakest one)
 * Zafira = pretty much any Big Badass Wolf in mythology

To continue with The Bible analogies started with Signum, the whole Final Battle of A's contains countless references to the Book of Revelation:


 * Reinforce is the Woman of the Apocalypse, who gives birth to The Messiah, i.e. metaphorically giving birth to Mage Knight Hayate after the Ordinary Schoolgirl Hayate is consumed.
 * Hayate is the Messianic Archetype who proceeds to resurrect the dead and become the Big Good.
 * Nanoha and Fate may be the two witnesses who preached in vain to prevent the apocalypse. (Not sure about that one.)
 * Then, we have a Beast from the Sea (the first form of the defense program). When it is destroyed, the second Beast emerges.
 * Then everyone gangs up upon the Beast and kicks its ass. A thousand year reign of Christ Hayate Yagami begins.

Ah, you know what? Screw that. Let's just say that Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory.

Sette gets the short end of the stick because of Nana Mizuki's pressure
Sette has been demoted to less than extra by SSX because she claimed Number 7, whereas all sevens in any series starring Nana Mizuki are her exclusive domain. So, ever since she was wtfpwned by Fate (with Nana's song playing in the background) in StrikerS, she won't be allowed to appear in the limelight ever again. That may be also the reason why she, alone among the younger Numbers, remained with Scaglietti.

Earth is only an Insignificant Little Blue Planet because there isn't native Lost Logia on the planet.
As we see in Vi Vid, the general technology level is pretty much the same as the general population as Mid-Child. Magic is heavily regulated by the military, special clearance is required just to fly in a civilian zone; so it's not commonly used in public. Earthlings are capable of magic, they just never had to develop it. Why "Unadministrated?" Because the Time-Space Administration Bureau has it's hands full keeping societies that do know about Lost Logia away from the stuff. Introducing a population of 7 billion to The Multiverse means tourists, immigrants, and a possible small percentage (which would happen with any population) of the curious and/or malevolent getting into stuff they shouldn't. When there's finally a Mage in Manhattan situation which results in The Unmasqued World, then they'll initiate official First Contact. Until then, they'll just recruit anyone who privately Awakens and absorb them into their society.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie First is a propaganda vehicle by the TSAB.
Well, we know from the Sound Stages that it's sponsored by the Bureau with Nanoha and Fate keeping their eye on it for 'factual accuracies'. This is also the reason why, instead of running gung-ho into earth like he did in the series, Yuuno informs the proper channels of TSAB first of his plan to retrieve the artifacts that were lost in earth in the supplementary manga. He would have set a bad precedent to anyone watching.
 * Likewise, the "Emoha" aspect was played up to counter criticisms of their zealous recruitment policy. Even if a mage is still a Sleeper and not psychotic; having magic potential that isn't honed is mentally painful. Fate's horrific homelife also emphasizes how not being Administrated is a bad thing; and the TSAB is the best possible thing that could happen to young mages.
 * Corollary: What Teana and Subaru are watching in Striker S is actually Nanoha The Movie 1st.
 * Fridge Logic: Who is playing the young Nanoha and Fate, then? Or is the movie an All CGI Cartoon in-universe?
 * The Sound Stages mention costumes and props for the movie, so presumably it's child actors who happen to look and sound a lot like the cast as kids.

Vi Vid is actually being written by Yukari Tamura
Remember her comment in this interview? Now take a look at the Takamachi household in ViVid. Mmmm... suspicious. Of course, if this is true, we may see a case of Homosexual Reproduction sometime before the end of ViVid.
 * I can agree with this to a point since so far, there hasn't been any real sense of plot in this series. But as for that claim of Homosexual Reproduction, it's doubtful that they'll get to that stage considering the current status quo of Hide Your Lesbians.

The Saint's Cradle prevented Nanoha and Vivio from disrupting the time-space
While doing the Super Weight estimation for StrikerS, I couldn't help but place both Full Drive Nanoha and Sankt Kaiser Vivio into the Deus Weight class. And the last time a Deus Weight appeared in the series, she nearly destroyed Earth, yet nothing of the like was expected on Mid-Childa. So I conclude that the famous AMF generators of the Cradle somehow shielded the rest of the universe from what was going on inside the throne room, preventing a major time-space dislocation, the like of which the TSAB expected from the moment they agreed to the creation of Riot Force 6.

Yuuno is The Man Behind the Man of the Takamachi family.
I haven't really got much to support this apart from my love of (Fate)Yuuha and the "fact" that The Man Behind the Man usually stays in the background, letting the Disc One Final Boss take centrestage. Also, on Earth, behind every successful man is a woman. On Mid-Childa, behind every successful woman is a man!
 * This is an amazingly bitter theory, even if the poster submitted in jest or good-heartedness. It basically says that because Yuuno didn't get his bone like he "deserved"; then nothing Nanoha and Fate accomplished without him could have been done.
 * Let's go all the way with this and see where it goes. So Nanoha and Fate are hiding Yuuno like a dirty little secret; being together with him...oh, one hour every two months or so; in a closet in the Infinite Library; and they've either not told Vivio about him at all; or somehow trained her not to talk about him. Using his amazing skills of training and mind control; he has manipulated and dictated their every action without anyone in the TSAB ever talking to him.

Lutecia's mother has veto'd Lutecia working for the Time Space Administration Bureau.
Hence Lutecia still having her sentence on her Luxury Prison Planet. They're going easy on her because other than that she's cooperative; but the Mid-Child justice system is very heavy on recruitment. The current "Training Grounds" is a compromise.
 * For that matter, shouldn't Lutecia still be in school? She is just one year older than Einhart, so you'd think she'll attend Hogwarts St. Hilde Academy...
 * She mentions a study program at the rehabilitation center, does quite a bit of reading on advanced subjects, and learned Ancient Belkan, among possible other skills, from Scaglietti. It's also unclear to what degree schooling is mandatory on Mid-Childia; Fate considers having Erio and Caro go to school, but Erio isn't interested, and Subaru attended some regular school (but not magic school) before entering the academy at 12).

The Huckebein aren't the true villains of Force
Instead, there is a fourth faction besides the Huckebein, TSAB, and Tohma's party, and they are the ones responsible for. This group would be the ones that the Huckebein are going after, and that's why the Huckebein were present after both events. They came and killed the true perpetrators in a way that doesn't leave behind evidence, similar to how typical Magical Girl type heroes kill the Monster of the Week
 * Curiously enough, Veyron doesn't admit to, which could indicate there's more to his story than Touma thinks, and he may be too obvious of a culprit.

The TSAB exists to prevent a technological singularity.
When Captain Harlaown (and that is her proper title, as she is the captain of a ship instead of mearly using it as a flagship) says that the Jewel Seeds are created from civilizations that advance their technologies too far, too fast. It could be that these civilizations reached a technological singularity, in which their technologies (based on their respected paradigms of being energy based or mass based) began to advance unchecked at a rate unimaginable to humans all on their own. The TSAB wants everyone to be suck at a technological level equivalent to mid 21st century Earth, and the most commonly used technology basically involves using existing machinery and programing them. It's the reason why they are not bothered by Earth, which uses mass based technology but hasn't advanced it so far yet that it could risk a technological singularity, is not actively trying to advance their technology to confront the TSAB, and informally bands use of their most powerful mass based weapon. The best policy towards Earth, quite literally, is to leave it alone and let it be ignorant of the greater universe (a policy that only works because the intergalactic government is apparently a hegemony).
 * According to Sound Stage X Guide Book, TSAB was founded in the first place to clean up the mess after the Saint King Unification War, which consisted primarily of magical weapons just lying around for everyone to get their fingers blown off (kinda like in Europe and Russia after WW 2). It was later that additional tasks like disaster relief and crime fighting were added to their agenda. So, in a way, you are right, except that the only two precursor civilizations mentioned so far were Al-Hazard and Belka, and only the latter left physical legacy that can be properly attributed. And the reason why the Bureau both enforces and monitors the use of energy-based magic (as opposed to Belkan mass-based one) is that it is apparently much more environment-friendly (as indirectly evidenced by the lush landscapes of Mid and the hypothesis that Belka became uninhabitable due to magical pollution, see Guide Book) and also less deadly in combat. Generally, TSAB shouldn't be seen as a galactic government or anything of the sorts, but rather as a Jedi order, enforcing a specific set of rules where they can and not meddling with people's life in general.

The TSAB is the US Coast Guard INSPACE.
They are a military style organization, there is no doubt about that. But they are basically a fantastic Coast Guard. Their job isn't to fight wars, it's to prevent crime and enforce laws that are beyond the scope of normal civilian and military duties. This may be the reason why their infantry sucks so bad...
 * This seems likely of the Ground Forces. By Striker S though the Air Force apparently Took a Level In Badass; this may be a reflection of a SWAT role or they're actually getting better. The Navy, though, seems prepared to fight a war if necessary.

== The various Alternate Continuities (The main continuity, Triangle Heart 3 ～sweet songs forever～ continuity, the Movie continuity, the Movie manga continuity, the A's portable game continuity) that the franchise is spouting will be revealed to be actual events in other dimensions, leading to all of them meeting each other sometime in the future == Well, why not? Think of the possiblities! Everyone realizing that The Movie events actually happened (with the implication that all stories that exist create their own dimensions)! Standard Nanoha meeting Emoha! Main continuity Hayate's reunion with ! Finally figuring out which aspects of the Triangle Heart-verse was retained in the Nanoha-verse! Four Nanohas Starlight Breakering something to oblivion!
 * Four Nanohas? OH SHI--

The Mid-Childans have magical means to both speed up and slow down the bodily aging processes
That would explain the obvious discrepancies between the Artificial Mages and Combat Cyborgs real and visible ages AND the sheer amount of Hot Moms running around. Think Zest, for example: he was killed by Cinque in 0067 and then Scaglietti presumably cloned him, creating a baby!Zest (at least, that's how cloning works in Real Life and any moderately hard science fiction). Baby!Zest was then somehow artificially aged to his pre-death age before being implanted with memories from Real!Zest dissected brain, giving us the 35+ looking Zest in StrikerS (0075). Oh, and considering his best buddy Regius was 54 in StrikerS, it is likely that Zest was only aged to a portion of his pre-death age, which makes sense since young body can take more damage.

As for the second part, it is blatantly obvious that all women on Mid-Childa use some magical means to maintain their beauty even when the age sets in (think Lindy and Leti). Wolkenritter are hardly a telling example but Signum is officially 35 in Force and still looks like twenty-something. But the most glaring example is probably Momoko Takamachi, Nanoha's mom, who is 47 in Vi Vid but still has the looks she had in the original series. It wouldn't surprise me at all to discover that Nanoha has been casting some de-aging magic on her family ever since she learned how.
 * In the Manga, it's explicitly stated that the Wolkenritter do not age, and Vita will have to use transformation magic to prevent people on Earth from noticing this, while Signum and Shamal only have to change their hairstyles.

Hayate is a Glass Cannon by choice
So let's say you're a sweet little girl who hates even the thought of hurting people and you've suddenly been handed more raw destructive power than any other character in your entire series. Kind of a scary thought, isn't it? I'll bet you're terrified of hurting your family or your newfound friends by not knowing your own strength and accidentally flash-frying them with a poorly-cast practice spell, right? The world suddenly seems to be made of cardboard... but luckily for you, your new friends in the TSAB have this handy dandy limiter technology you can incorporate into your device partner to nerf your magical powers down to levels you're comfortable with. Sure you're going to have to wear one anyways to get into a unit with your friends, but there's no such thing as being too careful, right? Besides, you're not really a direct combat person anyways, you don't really need to be able to out-Beam Spam a Touhou character when you've got four loyal knights protecting you all the time. Let's just hope nobody ever really really pisses you off and forces you to show everyone what you're really capable of...
 * Whether Hayate asked for that limiter is actually a moot point: TSAB would have placed on her, regardless. Whether she actually wanted to have one on her in the first place is a different question, but I think pretty much every over-S mage in the series does so voluntarily. Frankly, she or he can kick pretty much anyone's ass through their sheer magical experience and skills, even without the crazy mana output.
 * This is an interesting idea, but Hayate explicitly notes in the manga it's not the limiter that's her problem: she casts huge destructive magic that's great at huge destructive things, but her powers are not suited to combat up close and personal and against someone who has a melee device and the skill to use it, she has to blast them before they reach her or she's done. Hence the Wolkenritter: they can defend her in close combat. Now, the possiblity that Hayate has never tried to improve her close combat skills because she's afraid she'll go off the deep end and need to be stopped...
 * It's possible she's just playing the I Am Not Left-Handed role to the hilt, and I can think of a couple reasons why she'd do this. The first is that she doesn't want the bureau to know how powerful she really is; people like Regius are already making her life difficult, but if they knew she could dish out as much pain as Rein Eins could, they'd do everything in their power to get her stuck in Red Tape Central for the rest of her career. Second option is that it's possible to focus her brand of destructive magic into small spells like an Axel Shooter or Black Impact but the act of doing so makes it automatically lethal and removes the possibility of dealing non-lethal magic damage like Nanoha does. If this were the case, it seems very reasonable to me that Hayate would simply rule out the possibility of using her magic like that and deliberately limit herself to an artillery role where she can use her enormous magic reserves without the risk of killing anyone.
 * She states in the same part of the manga that it doesn't do much good to improve skills that one isn't naturally proficient with.
 * I'd find that more convincing if Hayate didn't have a history of Heroic Self-Deprecation and comparing herself negatively to Caro of all people. This is the same girl who said she did a bad job of commanding Riot Force Six after StrikerS while the command structure was offering her promotions left and right. At this point she can say she doesn't have Skill X or Ability Y until she's blue in the face; I won't be convinced until I see her try and fail to cast a spell outside her specialty in a situation where lives are depending on her.
 * Another possible reason she sees herself as weak isn't because she's unskilled, but because of the Tome of the Night Sky being an all powerful magical book, and she has only mastered few of its spells. If you think about it, the Tome of the Night Sky allows her to pull off all kinds of spells, ranging from simple spells to nukes, but the problem is that some, of not most of the spells are far too complicated even for her capabilities to master, and unlike Nanoha and Fate, who had ample time to master their magic and develop a defining style to suit their capabilities, Hayate had none of this due to the sheer number of spells she can use both in combat and as support, thus she only sticks to long range, heavy bombardment spells, probably under the idea that it allows her to easily eradicate any opposition with minimum effort and if that doesn't work, she can rely on her allies to clean up her mess.

Reinforce was, to some degree, jealous of Shamal's relationship with Hayate
Compare her vision of what the future would be like if she could have lived with Fate's Lotus Eater Dream. In Fate's Lotus Eater Dream, Linith and Precia praise Fate and hold her up as a model for Alicia to follow. Similarly, in Reinforce's vision of what life would have been like, the Wolkenritter compliment her cooking while criticizing Shamal's housekeeping skills (not only do they think she's a bad cook, but they also criticize her for breaking a vase while cleaning and forgetting her points card). It's possible that just as Alicia had Precia's approval that Fate had sought for so long, Reinforce wanted to be close to Hayate like Shamal was. While Vita gets the Les Yay moments with Hayate, Shamal seems to be around Hayate most often, especially in the 10-day period between Episodes 8 and 9 of A's, when the Wolkenritter are out hunting Linker Cores and only Shamal seems to be able to be regularly in contact with Hayate. By contrast, Reinforce only speaks with Hayate twice apart from conversations with her in her sleep that she forgets upon waking up (Hayate knowing the Wolkenritter's titles could be a result of being subconsciously influenced, as she repeats Reinforce's plea to God or the Devil near the end without having heard it), and one of them is during her Heroic Sacrifice.

Touma was intended as an alternative perspective to the Nanoha series- that of the villains.
While most of the Nanoha antagonists (with the exception of Precia, Scaglieti, the top four Numbers, Toredia, and most likely Huckebein) are portrayed as having sympathetic motives, the viewers are initially led to assume they are doing things for entirely bad reasons and the TSAB is always right to hunt them down and capture them. In this series, the TSAB agent closest to Touma, Signum, is shown to be entirely ignorant of why he is fleeing with Lily and willing to capture him regardless of what his intentions are, while Touma wants to contact, who knows him and his predicament, to find out what to do next. While this would indicate that the TSAB is portrayed less sympathetically than before, Touma clearly seems to place saving Lily above all else, and given he. His approach could be the "well-meaning but flawed" one like the Wolkenritter's plan to fill the Book of Darkness, while Nanoha and the TSAB's approach is once again best, but given the way the story is centered around him, it seems to show how the conflict appears to someone in his situation.

Force will contain a Call Back to the Book of Darkness/Night Sky and Rein Eins.
As You Know, in StrikerS  is a product of Project F, the same one that birthed , and Jail makes use of this in a Hannibal Lecture. If the pattern is to be followed, something else that was important to the second season but not brought up in the third will be referenced. Maybe Huckebein will unseal the Book, bringing back both Rein and the defence programme? I wonder if we can have The Battle of Aces plot elements with Force-level Materials -L, -S and -D? I eagerly await Force!Material-S's responding to the Strike Cannon with here's my Sunday best!

... Or it could just be something about the Wolkenritter in Old Belka.

Olivie and (Klaus) Ingvalt were Star-Crossed Lovers back in the day.
They seemed to have rather deep feelings for one another, and got along very well despite tension between their countries and the situation with Olivie there as a pseudo-hostage. Also, Olivie was the one who triggered Ingvalt's Failure Knight deal.
 * That is pretty much a given, but considering how "maintext" the romantic relationships tend to be in this series, it will probably never be acknowledged officially.

The Demoted to Extra characters will be coming back in a big way sometime.
I'm not entirely sure what inspired this thought, except maybe the idea of Deus Exit Machina/Holding Back the Phlebotinum, that these characters have been kept out of the (main) picture for so long because they're being saved for an epic Big Damn Heroes moment.

There are other pre-Belkan magical tomes with powers roughly on par with Reinforce.
Reinforce once said that she's "the happiest magical tome in the world". It could be just an Overly Narrow Superlative, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that there are other Al-Hazard and Belkan relics lying across the dimensions.
 * Maybe cliche, but I can see it now: A Light Is Not Good genuinely Complete Monster (Woman in White)Man in White Tome of the Day/Morning Sky, complete with big frakkin' ball of light Angelic (or something) Emission to serve as an Evil Twin for the  Anti Villainous, Dark Is Not Evil Rein Eins.
 * As things are going on in FORCE, by this point it looks like "The Book of the Silver Cross" is actually more powerfull(or at least more dangerous) than "The Tome of the Night Sky".
 * Debatable. The BOD did not get to go to full world-killer mode before Hayate ASSUMED DIRECT CONTROL, so we don't know what its full power really is. Admittedly, we don't know about the full power of Eclipse and the Silver Cross either yet.

The Lost Technology contested by the Bureau and Huckebein are of Al-Hazard origin, or at least inspired by them.
Unlike the Knights of Belka, which uses cartridge-enhanced weapons, the elite combat mages of Al-Hazard uses the Reactor-Divider system instead.

Linith was not simply a Morality Chain for Precia, she WAS her morality/maternal instinct
As we know from MGLN SS02, familiars share their "heart" (and magic knowledge) with their masters. So basically, when Precia was creating Linith, she somehow sublimated all her maternal feelings towards Fate into Linith on purpose, so she wouldn't start loving "a fake" like she loved Alicia. Instead, Linith received from her all the love towards Fate and served as buffer between Precia's edgy nature and Fate until her death. However, when Linith disappeared, Precia's love for Fate died with her, which is why she never felt anything remotely motherly for Fate.
 * This troper recalls that it was Linith who created Bardiche and helped Fate bind Arf into her familiar... both of which continue to serve Fate faithfully and with a great deal of love. Thus, it could be said that Precia-as-Fate's-mother never really died, but was instead transferred from sick-Precia to Linith, and then from Linith to Bardiche and Arf. Wow, that's some seriously STRONG love.

There will be a good character named Peter Beagle or nicknamed Pops/Raven in Force.
As You Know, the (apparent?) antagonists of Force are "of Huckebein". If the writers want to keep up the Ace Combat jokes, well, Unsung War and Belkan War revealed that. Maybe he will turn out to have left them because he disagreed with their methods. If they want to throw in Guilty Gear Shout Outs too, maybe he could be the original founder of Huckebein, but now seeks to bring it down for going astray, and also turn out to be an extremely powerful Retired Badass Badass Grandpa who can teach Hayate a thing or two about control and speed.
 * Statistically, Hückebein is much more likely to be yet anouther Shout-Out to the Super Robot Wars mecha, though.
 * Alternatively, just as Huckebein from AC was a Defector From Decadence fleeing the evil Belkans, maybe the Nanoha Huckebein guys are renegades who once served a force of good and when everything is on the ropes for the TSAB, their former comrades will act as The Cavalry for Nanoha and co.

Only cyborgs can efficiently use two (non-Unison) Devices simultaneously
Because they are partly machines, their brains are much easier to synchronize with two Devices at once, which is almost impossible for pure organics.
 * Subaru's mother/original Quint used both Revolver Knuckles, which are different devices simultaneously and she was human.
 * Perhaps they were originally one device, but were later modified to act as seperate devices.
 * Teana's Cross Mirage is two guns. Schach has two tonfu sticks. A Device can consist of two parts...
 * It can... only they were just inherited, not modified. Not to mention Hayate, who uses new Book of Night Sky and Swerzkreuz at the same time. And Strike Canon IS device. Or at least no less device than Revolver Knuckles, Subaru's first rollerblades and Teana's Anchor Gun.
 * I'm sorry, but what part of "This weapon is not a "magical device" (hereinafter referred to as "device"), but an armed interface being produced as a "magic-driven weapon." [emphasis added] makes you think the Strike Cannon is a device?
 * Only by that logic they would need to reclassify Teana grappler gun and Subaru first scates. I can't see difference.
 * The Strike Cannon uses magic as a power source, it is not used to cast spells. Teana's Anchor Gun, and Subaru's skates are used to cast spells.
 * I don't see a problem: since Devices are very much like PCs, amateur-made ones like Teana and Subaru's are basically comparable to early personal computers of The Nineties running MS-DOS. Intelligent Devices are something like the latest model MacBook in terms of performance and comfort. And Strike Cannon is like a Play Station 3: a portable supercomputer but only specialized for one task. That's the difference. Therefore, I don't think Nanoha will be using both Strike Cannon and Raising Heart simultaneously like Subaru did with her Devices: either one after the other, or by merging them in the Mecha Expansion Pack kind of way.
 * Only, you know... It's was Subaru that did exactly that - Revolver Knuckle(s) are interfaced through Mach Caliber, so de facto she uses one device and not two. And in article simultaneous use of RH and Strike Canon was explicitly stated - RH have new form for it, to act as support flying turret...
 * Yes, Subaru did, but Revolver Knuckle is an Armed Device (okay, a half of an Armed Device, but still), i.e. it is capable of independent operation, as well. Strike Cannon, on the other hand, probably just shoots things and blows them up, i.e. its complexity is much smaller. We have to wait for details, but I would imagine that Strike Cannon doesn't actually need to be synchronized with a particular mage, and anyone sufficiently powerful (read: Fate and Hayate), not just Nanoha would be able to glue it to their Devices with little trouble. Nanoha is just everyone's favorite guinea pig for testing new weaponry.
 * Only Revolver Knuckle is primitive Armed Device without any AI at all - and no different in that regard from Strike Canon. ********** Why would TSAB let one of its top operatives (Quint) run around with a primitive Device?
 * 1. If device is not intelligent device or same level of AI armed device is just a crutch, not anythings special and it's users skill that matters, not device 2. We don't know how many devices Quint had. Knuckles are family heirloom, bureau-issued device wouldn't be in family posession. 3. Quint wasn't one of they top operatives, Zest was.
 * Isn't the new Book another manifestation of Reinforce Zwei (like the old Book was basically inhabited by the original Rein)? Does Nanoha use both Strike Canon and Raising Heart simultaneously?
 * No, it's entirely separate storage device. More so, Rein have HER OWN version and in unison Hayate uses her staff, both books and Rein.
 * Well, Hayate is a bad example in the first place. First, because she is so insanely powerful, restrictions applied to normal (under-S ranked) mages may not apply to her at all. Secondly, if the new Book is a Storage Device, it is probably more of a external HDD for Hayate than actual working Device like Schwertkreuz. Thirdly, she only uses all four of her Devices when in Unison with Rein, and that's pretty much what Unison Devices are for: helping the mage process much more magic than they physically can.

Yuuno and Hayate paired because it was Awesome
They barely talked each other, but the shipper are sizable, not to mention other ship didn't agressively attack them, even if these includes one of them (some people attack once or twice, but far from open Ship-to-Ship Combat). There are reason(or Reasons) for this.
 * The pairing isn't Pair the Spares case, it was Rule of Cool.
 * Because Nuke Girl + Bunker Boy = Strategic Battle Couple
 * In case of TSAB pressured Strongest Mages to have a child, you know the result.
 * Because Authority Equals Asskicking, talk about two person that holds Authority, both are Four-Star Badass too. So...
 * BetrayerS case, Hayate take over TSAB by herself. Add Yuuno on the dynamic. It's like combining US armed forces and CIA, talk about We Can Rule Together...
 * Awesomeness Is Volatile, therefore, Canon NEVER took this idea, Fanon, not so much, again, Rule of Cool folks.

Cyborgs can kick Huckebein ass
The kanji for their Dividers are "Mage Killer". What better way to fight them than with non-magical Super Strength and Inherent Skills? There have already been hints that Subaru will show up - her Vibration Shatter could very well make mincemeat out of them.
 * Unlikely. Cyborgs still run on magic in Nanohaverse (because all Mid-Childan technology is magic-based, that's the Bureau's Obstructive Code of Conduct), and Huckebein's Eclipse is apparently a counter-technology that negates magic energy in all its forms. So it may be in fact more dangerous to cyborgs than purely organic beings. TSAB does have a counter-counter-technology in the testing: the AEC series (Strike Cannon, Sword Breaker), which probably converts mana to physical effects faster than Eclipse can negate it. However, cyborgs are still an obviously valuable asset, since at least four Nakajima sisters are already working for Hayate. PS: Subaru's IS is only effective against electronics. The Eclipse Drivers, as Cypha demonstrates, are made of something else entirely.
 * First, the Bureau bans Mass Weapons, not nonmagical technology. Second, even if they did ban nonmagical technology in general, the Combat Cyborgs were created by Jail do you really think he's going to care about what the law says?
 * The fact that Subaru was able to use her Combat Cyborg skills inside the Cradle completely disproves this. The Combat Cyborgs are not using magic as a powersource, and their enhanced abilities and I.S. are not at all magic-related, or Subaru would not have been able to function inside the Cradle, much less rescue Nanoha and Hayate. (Who had all their mage abilities disabled, even simple communications!)
 * The Cradle's AMF grew stronger the further in they progressed: they passed a group of mages led by Vita fighting Gadget Drones, who were fine. Deep inside, Subaru only used magic to punch through the wall and she charged that punch before actually entering the most densely AMFed area, the Throne Room. Plus, magic wasn't completely disabled even inside the Throne Room: Nanoha and Hayate still had their Barrier Jackets (which require mana upkeep, as A's demonstrated) on. It is feasible, however, that combat cyborgs are shielded against AMF (only logical, if we assume that magic is vital for them), which is how I understood Subaru's ability to survive inside the AMF. Likewise, the Devices, who are even more of a magitek construct than cyborgs, are probably shielded against AMF, since Rein felt pretty well (except that she couldn't gather up any mana).
 * Personally I find it very significant that Cypha says the Dividers specifically allow the Huckbein to neutralize the links between the mana particles in a spell, like a souped-up instant-AMF-on-contact effect; what about spells and magical objects that use unlinked mana, like Subaru's Duster Knuckle spell? The cyborgs could concievably be powered by unlinked mana and still be able to function under full AMF, and this would make them immune to the Huckbein's anti-magic abilities because there's no links for the Dividers to break either in their attacks or in their internal systems.

There is a level four to the Blaster system.
Of course, no-one told Nanoha because she would have used it when it wasn't needed and killed herself. Not to mention that if she had used something of that power inside the Saint's Cradle it would have likely blown it to pieces. Using it outside of an AMF...

Which leads on to...

Someone will tell Nanoha about the fourth level when the rest of her family has been captured/otherwise dealt with.
Unstoppable Rage leading to a Heroic Sacrifice and Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * If I were a TSAB technician, I'd remove the Blaster System from Raising Heart the moment the JS Incident was over, regardless of whether it had Level Four or not. Knowing Nanoha, she'd start practicing with the Blaster System on her own if left alone.
 * Wouldn't that make a WMG on its own?

The Blaster system is a Lost Logia.
Seriously, is anything else that basically destroys the person using it displayed by the characters? The closest anything else comes is the Book of Darkness.

Caledfwlch Techniques reverse-engineered the Mana Conversion Affinity
...to create the Strike Cannon. Think about it: Strike Cannon is used to directly convert mana into physical effect such as blast impacts. MCA is used to spontaneously convert mana into other forms of energy (eletricity and heat are canon). Caledfwlch has probably managed to replicate that technologically. It may be farfetched, but the same argument means that all MCA-users (Fate, Signum, and Erio) may have an ace up their sleeve against Hückebein even without AEC equipment.
 * Probably jossed. Signum's fire conversion didn't make any difference in her fight with Cypha, so it's doubtful the new power-up is based on an ineffective ability.

The reason why The Movie is often angstier than the original Nanoha series is related to its being an in-universe production
In-universe, the movie would be essentially a biopic for Nanoha and Fate, and thus subject to dramatization and embellishment. While Nanoha and Fate may have been called in to review the facts, their memory of how they felt is not necessarily perfect, and Nanoha and Fate may have overestimated their respective doubts about the likelihood of their becoming friends.

For this reason...

If there's an A's movie, Graham's going renegade to seal away the Book of Darkness his way will be edited out
The idea of an admiral of the TSAB who was held in high esteem disrupting an investigation in order to seal away an innocent girl forever is highly disturbing to many people in the Nanohaverse, and as such, the only characters who demonstrate knowledge about the case apart from Chrono (who arrested Aria and Lotte) and maybe the two guards posted at the door to Graham's office, Admiral Lindy, Admiral Letty, Regius and Auris, the latter of whom notes that the incident was "overlooked." It's also possible that the movie will never come out in the Nanohaverse, though, since it would essentially involve revealing the non-human nature of the Wolkenritter, which is officially a secret in the TSAB.

The True Tome of Night Sky was already destroyed before the rise of Belka.
The one encountered in the series is merely a copy created by Old Belkan scientists, inspired by its concept, using incomplete ancient schematics. It failed its intended function not because of sabotage but of imperfect design and manufacture. The white haired lady form is taken from the scientist who were absorbed at its testing phase.
 * So was the old Belkan homeworld destroyed by the Second Impact?
 * Err, considering that that it's original purpose (the one that inspired the Belkan scientist) is being an automatic magic archivist instead of a tool for Instrumentality or harnessing god-like powers, then no. That could make a nice separate WMG, though...Giant Naked Rein, anybody?
 * I see what you did there. o__O

Precia was a Dark Magical Girl in her youth
However, she lived in the time where Magical Girls were still supposed to give up their powers and marry dull guys after they come of age. The marriage didn't work out, obviously, but did a great job estranging Precia from the MG who originally befriended her. This explains her mad magic powers, her violent tendencies (DMG without an emotional buffer in form of a MG = a sociopath in the making, just look at Material-L), and falls well within the Generation Xerox motif in the series.
 * Alternately Precia had the same the relationship with her Magical Girl as Fate had with Nanoha and ended up adopting a little girl by the name of Alicia. After her significant other was lost in a dimensional rift in the middle of a mission Precia threw herself into her work, trying to retrieve her lost love, while still taking time out of her day to care for the only connection she had to that love. of course we all know what happened after that and as a result of losing the only good thing she had left in her life then having her attempt at replacing it fail she quickly became the woman we all know and despise

There will be another Spin-Off manga centering on the deeds of the Saint Church
Up until now we have been mainly show how things are done by the TSAB. At some point, Tsuzuki is gonna finally formulate the creed of the Saint Church and dedicate a short manga (or OVA) exclusively to the Church and its Knights (with the former Numbers as the protagonists).

The Demoted to Extra status of Yuuno, Arf etc. is the result of a systematic Unpersoning.
Obligatory crackpot conspiracy theory! It would explain why you have such ridiculous things such as Yuuno not being visible even in his own Library in Vi Vid.
 * While Yuuno is conspicuously absent on the list of Vivio's important people, Vivio never goes to the Infinity Library in ViVid, only stopping by a normal library that may be the school library.

Signum will be corrupted by the Eclipse
Because it would follow what happened to Lamia in OG Gaiden. This may result in her Barrier Jacket changing in appearance to resemble the Vysaga.
 * Then who's the candidate of Axel? That... uh... nun with bladed tonfa (What's her name again?)? Looks too insignificant to take Axel's place.
 * Schach, and neither she nor any of the other Saint Church characters have appeared in Force.

The three imprisoned Combat Cyborgs are going to be very angry when they get out. With Jail.
Uno is relatively simple to explain; being a clone of Jail, and the engineer of the Engineer's Revenge, by the time she gets out (and especially if Jail manages to self-rescue and leaves her behind), she's going to want some engineer's revenge of her own. She will also have the reasons mentioned below.

Tre and Sette will essentially be on the exact opposite tack of the Combat Cyborgs who got off lightly and remember Jail with fondness as a good father. Both of them were there when Quattro tried to kill Fate by collapsing Jail's Elaborate Underground Base. Both them will be acutely aware that A: there was no threat to the overall plan, as Fate couldn't have gotten to the Cradle in time to change the final outcome (or she would have tried to do just that), B: Jail had a backup plan in the event of his death, but they didn't, and C: Jail did not intervene to try and save their and Uno's lives, instead doing the gleeful-cackling routine at Fate. At the final extreme, Jail Scaligetti treated them as utterly expendible. Their opinion of Jail as a father is thus unlikely to be very positive.
 * It's unclear where Cinque was during the self-destruction, but it's likely that she was recovering in the base, and was captured when her wounds prevented her from resisting. Since she has an "indefinite" sentence, like the imprisoned Combat Cyborgs, and suspects that she will never be free, the imprisoned Combat Cyborgs (with the possible exception of Sette) will never be released as long as they refuse to cooperate.
 * This arguably has much more to do with Cinque's transhuman nature than her crimes. She is after all an immortal superhuman in a society that does still apparently consist mostly of non-mages. Her I.S. alone makes her incredibly, ridiculously dangerous, but the simple fact that Cinque can break walls with her bare hands means that some sort of difference in the application of the law is necessary because she is not like those whom the law was written for. Placing her under indefinite suspended sentence is a tactful way of doing this without changing the letter of the law to accomodate a whole new class of people. While it's unlikely they'll ever let Quattro go because she shows all the signs of being a complete pyschopath, Tre is most probably sane since she had to command the Numbers in action effectively, and Uno could well be sane depending on how much of what was done to Jail was genetic and how much was brainwashing. The TSAB is not the sort of organization to lock you up and throw away the key unless you're completely beyond any sort of redemption.
 * Agreed. Other than being loyal to Scaglietti (or to Tre, in Sette's case) and thus turning a blind eye to the harm his agenda caused, neither Uno, Tre nor Sette seemed to be actively malicious themselves. If they wanted to, they could probably integrate into society without much difficulty. Quattro is definitely a sociopath and best kept behind bars, though.
 * Tre refuses to cooperate with the investigation, but worries about her sisters. It's unclear where, if anywhere, this will lead.

A conspiracy of old Belkan nobility is aiming to overthrow TSAB and the Saint Church
Your tinfoil hats on, please, one Grand Unifying Guess incoming. Done? Good. Now...

Reaching back to the time of Ancient Belka, there has been a single cabal of powerful individuals secretly directing the course of multiverse history. If you don't believe it, here are some questions for you:
 * The Sankt Kaisers of the old days were eventually reduced to figureheads, symbols, and most powerful units in the field. As Ixy mentions in SSX, she and the Kaisers were nothing but tools and weapons used in endless wars. By whom?
 * The Combat Cyborg project was adopted by Scaglietti, who only perfected it, while the prototype Type Zero cyborgs were created by another scientist. Who was he/she?
 * An illegal secret research facility was experimenting on a Unison Device from the Ancient Belkan era in StrikerS. Who created it?
 * Someone leaked the supposedly top-secret information on both a Sankt Kaiser clone and Dark King Ixpellia's presence on Mid-Childa to Einhart Stratos in Vi Vid. Who was it?
 * Another illegal secret research facility experimented on Lily Strosek, an, in Force, and wasn't above incinerating the intruder along with the evidence (and probably not above pinning their crimes on Hückebein). Who set it up?

It should be obvious that after the last Sankt Kaiser abdicated (or was killed without an heir), some Belkans (especially rich and powerful) were not happy about it. The history books (SSX booklet) are notoriously vague on the fate of those who called themselves "Belkans" in modern times. It is likely that IF there was a cabal ruling the Belkan empire from the shadows through their puppet Sankt Kaisers, they would likely go into hiding after their defeat. Using their wealth from the Belkan times, they would prepare for a rebellion against TSAB and the Saint Church, just like the Grey Men of the original Belka from Ace Combat. Or, if the universes are connected, could they be actual (followers of the) Grey Men?

Combat Cyborg program and the experiments with Ancient Belkan technologies (likely in attempt to learn to mass-produce them) are obviously projects to produce weapons for the future rebellion. Their interest in locating the Sankt Kaiser is also obvious: such group would want to either turn her into their puppet, just like in the old times, or kill her, since Olivie was the one responsible for their fall. Lastly, as one of the entries above suggests, the conspiracy may be currently headed by Alicia and Fate Testarossa's biological father.


 * Also, Caledfwlch Techniques is Their Front Organization. This way, then get ludicrous sums of money from the Bureau for AEC equipment development, get to test it on live targets, with the best beta-testers of the Burea, and when the zero hour comes, they can easily counteract their own AEC weaponry, would the Bureau try to use it against them. Also, if Caledwlch did secretly own the lab that Thoma trashed in chapter 1, it'd explain their ability to produce Anti-Eclipse weapons when nobody is supposed to know that much about Eclipse. It's a win-win situation for them.
 * Now that I think of it, the Saint Church must have been working with them all along or was brought under their control between StrikerS and Force. We all know that The Church tends to be the Anti-Magical Faction in normal circumstances. While the Saint Church rather atypically embraces magic, they do eschew Mid-Childan magic--in favor of Ancient Belkan one! Don't you see? The Church is a perfect front organization for the Belkan conspiracy, since if they are ever busted, they will just hide behind religion! The Church in fiction also often trains Mage Killers--which is exactly what the Hucks are. Except that they obviously went rogue just like Scaglietti. The "nuns" that Veyron killed weren't really nuns but Church Knights sent to apprehend him--they shot first and he acted in self-defense! Also, why is it that we haven't seen even a glimpse of a Church clergy (except those nuns) in Force yet? Not even Carim, who had to be behind the Special Duty Section 6... unless she was removed.

Nanoha and Hayate enjoy keeping Fate out of the loop for personal amusement
Her not knowing about Vivio's Older Alter Ego is not the only time this has happened; near the end of the ''Striker S]] manga, Hayate leads Fate to the final battle between the forwards and the captains without telling her what it is. This could be the result of Fate being possibly the most serious and socially awkward of the three Aces, compared to the more cheerful Nanoha and the sometimes mischievious Hayate, making her reactions all the more amusing. Rather than it being a case of being so Married to the Job that she doesn't hear about Vivio's ability to transform at will, Erio, Caro and Vivio most likely assumed Nanoha told her already and didn't say anything.

Agito will be reminded of her promise to
If Signum's injuries left her unable to join battle again, then maybe she had a little breakdown(or even an Heroic BSOD) an reminds Agito of their promise claiming that now she's unable to live up to Zest's ideals.
 * Technically, the wording was that Signum asked if she strayed off her present path like Regius had. It's less clear what Agito would do next if Signum were crippled but still remained honorable.
 * Not in Force, it seems, as Signum is back up and running again.

Isis is a Combat Cyborg
She has purple hair. And yellow eyes. Who else does this sound like?
 * Good catch. That explains why Aru considers her the most dangerous of the three, why she doesn't have a Device despite being an aerial mage (her gloves may be an Inherent Equipment), and why Thoma trusted her immediately (he is conditioned by Subaru to trust cyborg girls :D). The question remains on who built her: it couldn't have been Scaglietti, and no indication has been given that the Type Zero batch included more than two specimen. She is probably currently on the run from her creators (the Ancient Belkan Conspiracy?), probably.

Laevatein has the secret fourth form, its true Full Drive
I don't think it has even been established what Laevatein's Full Drive form is (except in the Battle of Aces, where Sturm Falke is used as the Full Drive Special Move), and both Schlangenform and Bogenform seem extremely powerful at different ranges. Now, if we look at Graf Eisen, it has four forms, of which Zerstörungform is easily the most powerful one that combines features of all others. Now, if we apply the same logic to Laevatein, then it should have a fourth form, too: a Giant Flaming Chainsaw Sword that extends and shoots multiple Sturm Falkens from its hilt. And the reason she has never used this form yet? There hasn't been an opponent challenging enough. But now Cypha is in for a naaasty surprise...

PS: Oh, and her AEC Equipment would be simply an upgrade module for Laevatein that converts mana directly into other forms of energy. She doesn't need much more than that.
 * With the introduction of Bardiche as a prototype for the 5th Generation Device system wich is stated to be only capable to be handled by strong mages with great mana control or a "mana conversion ability" such as lightning or "fire". It's almost implied that Laevatein maybe undergo this treatement, he gets almost destroyed and, by this point, it's pointless to simply restore it to his original state, So Yeah maybe he gets a real upgrade after all.

Carim's prophecy hasn't been fulfilled yet
"In the land where ancient crystals and infinite greed gather and intertwine, the wings shall revive from the holy land, beneath the dead king. The dead shall dance, and the tower of law in the central lands shall burn to the ground. But, before this, the ship of law that guards the many seas shall be torn apart." This is the YesY translation of Carim's prophecy in StrikerS episode 13. Now the Prophecy Twist at the end of the series wound up showing us that "the ship of law" was the Cradle, not the Bureau as we were lead to believe... but what about the rest of it?
 * In the land where ancient crystals and infinite greed gather and intertwine, the wings shall revive from the holy land, beneath the dead king. "Ancient crystals and infinite greed" is obviously referring to the relics and the Unlimited Desire project that created Jail. "Dead King", likewise, most likely refers to Vivio, and the wings are probably a reference to Nanoha.
 * But, before this, the ship of law that guards the many seas shall be torn apart. The Prophecy Twist itself, of course. But note the order the events take place in; the Cradle is supposed to be destroyed before the events of the second part, and since the Cradle is destroyed right at the end of StrikerS, the second part of the prophecy can't have been fulfilled in that season.
 * Wasn't Asura scheduled to be decomissioned at the beginning of StrikerS (hence Chrono getting a new ship)? The ship of law part might refer to her.
 * The dead shall dance, and the tower of law in the central lands shall burn to the ground. Here comes the fun part; taken solely in the context of StrikerS, "the dead shall dance" could be interpreted as Project F mages like Zest and Vivio running around, but outside that context it could also refer much more directly to the Mariage. Or maybe not; maybe it's just talking about Vivio and Ingvalt going on a date and hitting a night club or something. If it was referring to the Mariage, on the other hand, then the last part is most likely foreshadowing events in Force or Vi Vid.

Lutecia's Emotionless Girl status was Quattro's fault...
...because unless Quattro has super brainwashing powers in addition to her IS, she couldn't have executed Lutecia's Villain Override unless Lulu had been tampered with somehow, possibly by turning her into a relic weapon (which would explain quite nicely how a ten-year old who isn't Hayate gets to be an S-rank mage). If Quattro had a chance to tamper with Lutecia for any reason, it would be perfectly in-character for her to play God with Lutecia's personality like she did with Sette, either to make her more pliable as a tool or just because she could. This would also explain why Lutecia experienced such a dramatic personality shift between StrikerS and Vi Vid; without Quattro's tampering and with the TSAB probably getting her medical attention at some point in her captivity, whatever artificial changes Quattro imposed on her came undone, and her thought processes and personality naturally shifted back to their original state.

Lutecia is an Artificial Mage
Just a hunch. Out of the three top mages on Zest's team, one was resurrected as an Artifical Mage, one was cloned into a Combat Cyborg, and the last one conveniently had a daughter (who looks just like her, has similar powers, and has inherited her Device) who was an over-S summoner at the age of 10 and unquestioningly agreed to serve the guy who held her mother in suspended animation? I think not. Of course, seeing how Megane wasn't technically dead, Scaglietti couldn't transfer her memories to Lulu (that would have probably backfired, too), but he did crank her power level up to eleven when he cloned her. When Megane finally awakened (her coma was obviously prolonged artificially), she decided to never tell Lutecia the truth and quietly accepted the story Scaglietti told to her, and the TSAB victim protection covered up the rest.

Megane was a DMG in her youth, and Quint was the MG who befriended her
Generation Xerox, remember? Though, actually, this is inspired by Megane's flashback in the recent Vi Vid chapter.

Basically, Megane was a DMG, Quint befriended her, they became a couple Just Friends. Since it was still the time when Magical Girls were supposed to marry, Quint married Genya for show but continued her relationship with Megane (then again, lesbian office affairs are obviously not a big deal on the Mid). Genya probably knew about and accepted it, which is why they didn't have any kids, but jumped at the chance to adopt Quint's clones. Also explains why rainbows are straighter than at least one of her "daughters". As for Megane's own daughter, see the above theory.

Agito is secretly into BDSM
That's why she wears a collar and handcuffs all the time and serves a Mistress with a whip.

Vita is the strongest member of the Wolkenritter in terms of physical strength
Hinted at first by swinging Graf Eisen around with that ease. But it can be excused by the fact that Eisen is a magical weapon. Bu then came FORCE and Vita is assigned to carry the War Hammer that is a "mass conventional weapon" that only use magic as an energy source, thus proving that Vita is really capable to handle something that big and heavy all by herself, it's also already hinted that she's the most durable member of the Wolkies.

You can destroy a Huckebein with magic. You just need a lot.
You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling. I was playing Team Fortress 2 the other day, using the Engineer, and a lines from his "Meet the Team" video came to me: "And if that don't work? Use more gun." That reminded me of this Neon Genesis Evangelion fic, And If That Don't Work, where the "more gun" is From Russia With Nukes. That also made me think of Warhammer 40000, where the Anti-Magic of Blanks can be No Selled by sufficiently strong daemons or psykers.

Where am I going with this? Diabolic Emission. Ragnarok. Blaster Mode Exceed Max Starlight Breaker. Arc-en-Ciel. Multiple Arc-en-Ciels. Of course, unless the Huckies somehow cause the crossing of the Godzilla Threshold, we might not see the Fantastic Nuclear Option in play.
 * Bad comparisons. Both AITDW and 40K have that option present in the source material (Ramiel and several other angels were killed without the use of an AT-Field in Eva), but the Hucks have been presented so far as being utterly immune to all forms of magic. This was the whole point of having Cypha laugh off a direct hit from Signum in Unison with Agito -- and if you recall Karyuu Issen, Unison Signum is close to Hayate's level of destructive power -- and as we've seen they can regenerate any damage they take. So it's possible they can be hurt by magic, but it is absolutely not cost-effective to bust out Blaster Mode just to give the Hucks a few bruises, and the Aces are just about the biggest guns the bureau has that are effective against man-sized targets.
 * And aided by the fact of the Huckebein Warship being a giant-sized Divider capable of totally negate a giant beam the size of a Starlight Breaker coming from the Wolfram's(Hayate's assigned Warship) main weapon called "Augusto" while the Huckebein are preparing lunch.
 * ... If Nanoha uses Starlight Breaker as an anti-personnel weapon then obviously you don't use a mere Starlight Breaker-scale weapon in space-naval combat. Comprehende, amigo? After all, If violence wasn't your last resort, you failed to resort to enough of it. I will concede, though, that the Bureau may not think the situation dire enough.
 * There's a gaping hole halfway through the Saint's Cradle that would like a word with you, "amigo". Regardless, calling the Augusto a "Starlight Breaker-class" weapon is dubious at best, seeing how we never see what sort of damage it does to targets that aren't immune to magic. In all likelyhood it's a lot more potent than a "mere" SLB and the Hucks' ship didn't even twitch from a direct hit. There is still the Arc-en-Ciel but the bureau seems to have known about the Huckbein for a while now (hence the convenient availability of the AEC equipment) and if they didn't outfit the Wolfram with an Arc like they did for the Asura back in the Book of Darkness case, then it's probably because they don't think it will be effective. Either that or the heroes are trying to bring the Hucks in alive instead of atomizing them.
 * Eclipse could well confer an even higher level of magic resistance than the AMF on board the Cradle. I'll concede, though, that the Bureau might want them alive. Either way, it seems that we won't be getting anywhere here until an Arc-en-Ciel actually gets fired at them.

Yuuno doesn't hang out with the main cast because he's just not much use on a battlefield anymore
Everyone likes to call Yuuno an invincible Barrier Warrior because of how he handled Vita in A's, but there's a few details about that encounter that people seem to be missing or deliberately overlooking; Nanoha's shields were broken by a cartridge-powered hit from Graf Eisen's rocket form, but Yuuno only tanked an ordinary hit from GE's hammer form, and this was after Vita had either run out of cartridges or started conserving them. That's still nothing to sneeze at mind you, but it takes away the only instance of Yuuno's shields doing anything particularly impressive and brings his status as a Stone Wall into question. It's very much worth noting that his official mage rank as of StrikerS is only "A", which means he was probably even weaker than that before the timeskip.

Of course there's more than one way to be a powerful mage in this series, and Yuuno happens to have taken that way; what he lacks in magical power he makes up for with a mastery of the mathematical skills necessary for high-level spellcasting. We see this with his multi-tasking during the above-mentioned A's battle, shielding himself against getting hammered while trying to decode Vita's barrier and prep a teleport spell for everyone. The problem is that while Yuuno is Weak but Skilled, the skills he has don't lend themselves well to magical combat; most of his spells have potential offensive uses, but as noted one of the other WMGs, they're too lethal for Yuuno to use them like that. At this point the only thing he's really good for is as a field medic or a magical AWACS unit, and Shamal is a more powerful (and less squishy) mage who can fill both of those roles just fine.
 * Nanoha and Shamal have Devices. Yuuno does not. His true potential is unknown until he has his own Klar Wint.
 * You forgot that Nanoha was putting her full attention into fighting Vita and defending from her attacks, and still had trouble even before the cartridge load. Yuuno was NOT giving Vita his full attention or power because he was trying to break down Vita's containment barrier. He clearly wasn't just retreating and blocking while Vita chased, either; when we watch them fight from a distance, the green light (Yuuno) charges directly towards and clashes with the red light (Vita); further, we don't KNOW that Vita didn't use a cartridge while fighting him, since most of their fight is off-screen or too far away to make out the details. In fact, if Signum was willing to use cartridges against Fate, wouldn't Vita have done the same when her regular attacks proved incapable of hurting Yuuno? We're shown pretty decisively that when Vita doesn't break through at first, she gets serious and puts everything into the strike. There's pretty much no way she didn't pop a shell against Yuuno. Yet, Yuuno suffers absolutely no wounds by the end of that fight, unlike Nanoha or Fate. AND HE DOES IT ALL WITHOUT A DEVICE.
 * In Yuuno's defense I can add the fact that the only two times a barrier created by him gets pierced in canon are first against Starlight Breaker Plus and then against the Triple Breaker, the first's a very powerfull spell with barrier piercing capabilities (as showed when it destroys Vita's barrier) and the second is the combination of the three more powerful character attacks at the time, any other time his shields and barriers have worked just fine, then again he's regarded as versatile but wasted character, not only because of the Razor Floss, he can also cast Struggle Bind (you know, those chains with dispelling abilities) and is capable of teleport targets agains their own will (a feat that even Shamal doesen't show to have). Sadly it's true that he can't catch up by the time of FORCE because almost all of his usefull spells are rendered useless now by the Huckebein, super-strong barriers are not of much help against someone who can simply negate them.
 * Having his shields broken by a powerful spell doesn't make Yuuno special. If he'd blocked a Starlight Breaker at some point without his shields breaking that'd be one thing, but without an incident like that the best we've got is his fight against Vita, which isn't quite as impressive as most people make it out to be. Chain Bind's ability to do physical damage is nothing special, we see magic spells alternate between physical and non-lethal damage all the time, and while Struggle Bind is useful, it's not nearly enough for Yuuno to call himself a combat mage (when was the last time you saw a mage in this series cast one spell over and over again for an extended fight scene?). Forced teleportation is a neat trick, but its main use is as a delaying tactic when Yuuno is trying to run interference for someone, in cases such as pursuing a criminal or dueling a rogue mage its usefulness is significantly lessened.
 * And this is exactly where the franchise fails to balance character potential, Yuuno can't be an effective direct fighter but can aid great support, the fail part is, support mages are really underrated in Nanoha. For example, Shamal who is claimed by some to be better at support than Yuuno gets quickly Demoted to Extra in Striker S, then on the same season comes Caro who use her support spells ONCE (to give Erio extra power to defeat a Gadget Drone Type III) and then only shine when summon her dragons(after Voltaire shows up Caro go full sommoner and less support for the rest of the series). It's only in recent chapters of Vi Vid when support magic came to shine again with Caro and Lutecia (who did a better support role than Caro in StrikerS) as fullbacks. In FORCE the situation already leaves any non walking-killing-machine character to the sidelines(and apparently it isn't any support mages among the new cast) so it's pretty clear that non-full combatants are never fully apreciated. Still, Yuuno doesn't fight Vita, he only stalls her while focused on destroying the barrier. Also there's nothing wrong with his shields been broken by SLB Plus and Triple Breaker, if had managed to block SLB that intantly would launch him to Game Breaker status(something the franchise trying to avoid at least in the past), the two aformentioned spells are used to defeat Eldritch Abominations, dark magical girls and cloned superpowerfull Ancient Belkan rulers so it's plotwise understandable that Yuuno can't contain such powerful attacks, other than that is an example of a character who is only good on one thing but does really well on that.
 * I beg to differ. Lutecia's teleportation spells were instrumental in Jail's attack on the Ground Forces and Caro uses her support magic for all kinds of stuff (boosting Teana's illusions is a common trick). If all you can remember her doing is Twin Boost: Slash and Strike, then you probably need to watch the series again. If Caro got shafted in StrikerS, she got shafted for the same reason everyone else did (too many characters, not enough screentime), and not specifically because she was a support mage.
 * Yuuno's problem is his personality. He's far too directly confrontational to be a good support mage. Shamal gets it and acts like a sniper, making sure her opponents are not aware of her until it's too late to react, concealing her presence on the field until she's needed. Unless the series steps it up to a consistantly lethal level where he (and Shamal) could cut loose with the Tele Frag, Yuuno'll never be able to compete because he doesn't seem to know how to best play the role.
 * Shamal has Klar Wint's pendulum form to aid her scrying, which allows her to easily cast magic from a distance. Yuuno doesn't have any such Device. Give him one, and the power boost will give him new options.

Zest was a member of the Church Knights once
Presumably before his career at TSAB. This is where he learned the Ancient Belkan magic system long before the Wolkenritter made it popular again.
 * There is some overlap between the Bureau and the Church, as Carim is once referred to as a Church knight who is part of the Bureau, and wears a blue Bureau uniform to the press conference, so this is possible.

Zest's spear was an Ancestral Weapon
It was an Ancient Belkan Armed Device equipped with a cartridge system. The only other such Devices (Laevatein and Graf Eisen) both come from the Ancient Belkan era. Ergo, it is likely that Zest's spear was passed down to him by some old Belkan knight ancestor.

The Wolkenritter are actually getting weaker over the years
Think about it, in A's they start as nearly invulnerable war machines capable of withstand unholy amounts of punishment, on Striker S we receive a clear statement that their resurrection powers and Healing Factor are starting to weaken, that and their powerlevel is pretty much the same after the 10 year gap between A's and StrikerS (except for all the Unison thing that didn't make much difference anyway), fortunately they still are able to cope with the current situation, and Vita shows that she's still capable of fight even after being stabbed across the chest. Then came FORCE and we see the(supposedly) strongest of them being CurbStompped and fall uncounscicious after a simple impalement. They don't look so mighty now huh?
 * Only if you're suffering from massive Fan Dumb. First of all, Agito gives Signum access to firepower that's nearly on Hayate's level -- if also restricted by a shorter range -- without the use of her full drive (Imagine what this will look like after Agito powers it up). Second, what the hell is this nonsense about Signum being "supposedly" the strongest of the Wolks? Go back and reread the StrikerS manga epilogue and watch Signum take a Blaster 1-boosted Shooting Star Assault and a Divine Buster at point blank range and come out relatively unscathed. She's not just the strongest of the Wolkenritter, she's quite possibly the strongest fighter in the entire cast. It took a weapon specifically designed to kill mages to put her down, and two attacks -- she was x-slashed across the chest, then impaled -- that were meant to kill her and quite clearly went right through her barrier jacket only knocked her out. Now compare this to A's where she was challenged and fought on equal ground by a AAA-rank loli. Yeah, she's totally gotten weaker over the years, hasn't she?
 * Also, I think the destruction of Laevatein hit her with some kind of backlash, if only psychological, leaving her stunned for a moment. While I agree that the Wolkies are definitely more fragile now that they aren't powered up by the Tome of Eldritch Lore cum Eldritch Abomination, I see no reason to believe that their Power Levels are degrading over time.
 * At least that explain why she simply stay still waiting to be slashed after Laevatein's destruction, right when she shows to be quicker than Cypha at the beginning of the fight(from standing position to cut her cheek with Laevatein's Schlagenform in a fraction of a second, i think that's near Erio's level of quickness at best). Laevatein's fall still proves one point, when it's true that their Power Level don't weak over time it also neither grows, as magical creations i think they're have the exact same power always, they're strong at first, but they're unable to become stronger on their own(needing Hayate's support or Unison to do so), and apparently they are finally overhelmed by the flow of time on the other characters.
 * Power levels in this series don't work like Super Saiyans, mages don't constantly improve just by training all the time, and the villains don't follow the Sorting Algorithm of Evil, so there's very little chance of Signum and the Wolkenritter ever falling to Can't Catch Up. Nanoha's power level capped out around S+ during the timeskip, and all improvements after that point are accomplished by tech upgrades like the Blaster System or Fortress Mode. The only reason Signum can't keep up with the current bad guys is because her AEC equipment wasn't ready when she went to engage Cypha. Remember, Signum owned Cypha in the first half of chapter 7; if Cypha had been a normal mage, the fight would've been over as soon as Signum cut her arm off. The only thing Cypha has going for her is her regeneration and Anti-Magic hax, and the latter will cease to be a problem once Signum gets her tech upgrade.
 * You're forgeting Cypha's Made of Adamantium hability, i think it was one of the more descisive elements that lead to Signum's defeat, even whith her magic cancelled she's an outstanding swordswoman(as she demonstrates to Cypha at the beginning) but Laevatein suffer from the direct contact with Cypha's body and then finally cracks(i think "zero effect" has something to do with Laevatein's lack of endurance because the once mighty belkan sword proved in the past to be quite strong and durable, cutting other weapons or heavy armored foes with ease) leaving her master without a weapon right in front of an armed opponent with heavy armor piercing capabilities. Cypha is not only inmune to magic she's also inmune to "being cut", not really the best scenario for a magic swordswoman.
 * Yeah, no. If the Huckbein were immune to physical damage in addition to magical damage, they'd be completely unstoppable, and Signum draws blood from a cut across Cypha's face with no damage to Levatine whatsoever. The Hucks are obviously tougher than your average person, but Levantine's damage is far more likely to be a product of Signum trying to use a magic sword against a Mage Killer and then using a half-broken blade against Cypha after her Divider was powered up, not because Cypha is completely immune to physical damage. Otherwise, what would be the point of the AEC equipment?
 * You need to remeber that Cypha clearly states that bladed weapons are useless against a "reacted" Eclipse Driver, i agree that Laevatein's demise had something to do with the Anti-Magic thing, but also Signum and then Cypha clearly make note of the toughness of the latter's body before(fissuring Laevatein but maiming Cypha) and after(when Cypha block and destroys Laevatein with her own body without any physical damage ...or even Clothing Damage whatsoever) the mentioned "reacting", So far the AEC-Equipement is not perfected yet, but still none of them relies mainly on "slashing" attacks(save for Fate but she's justified by wielding an upgraded Bardiche with energy powered blades).
 * Dude, you are way too determined to come up with reasons why Signum is suffering Badass Decay. As usual. First of all you're wrong about none of the AEC weapons using solid blades, Nanoha's Fortess Mode has configurations for arm-mounted blades in both solid-state and energy forms, and IIRC the Strike Cannon comes with a solid-blade configuration for melee combat. Yeah, she's not relying on them as her primary weapons, but if they're completely useless against the Hucks then why put them in at all? Answer: they're not, because they're not magical blades. Second, why on Earth would a reacted state give the Huckbein protection against slashing damage but not piercing or blunt force trauma?
 * First of all, i'm more critic and less ranting by now. Back on topic, i say that AEC weapons don't rely MAINLY on blades, not that they don't include it, still the blades are not very effective(as Erio's Strike Cannon demonstrates while pitted against Deville's Axe on Chapter 9.5), if Nanoha's ones are more effective is yet to be seen(and for all instances Laevatein's even without magic is clearly a big metal sword that was pitted against other durable materials on various ocassions, only damaged for the first time after hitting something as hard as Cypha's body). As for the last thing about piercing/blunt force(showed by Veyron's bleeding after being Strike Cannon'd by Erio) i can think of any better than ..uhm... Less Powers as the Plot Demands perhaps?
 * Not effective against the dividers themselves, maybe. Go back to Touma's fight with Veyron in chapter 4, notice that Veyron is parrying Touma's bladed attacks with his own divider instead of his arm. I'm very much inclined to think that when Cypha said she was immune to blades, she was referring specifically to melee-type devices -- those being the only blades that see use in this series -- meaning that neither Belkan nor Mid-Childan magic will work on the Hucks, not that she has some additional resistance to physical damage that none of the other Hucks have for some bizarre reason.
 * I agree with most of that except for the fact that Veyron doesen't have a divider of his own(the one he uses is from someone else), because of that is logical to assume(but still debatable) that he dosen't even have a reactor, still their ridiculously powerfull Healing Factor(allowing them, or at least Cypha, to regenerate lost members in matter of seconds with no visible effort) made them to be very hard tu kill by using cutting weapons(i run with the theory that it's easier to regenerate a lost limb than "repair" a badly crushed or bruised one, with fissured bones and all the like).
 * That doesn't make any sense, though. First of all the Healing Factor would make them hard to kill with any kind of damage, not just cutting weapons specifically, which is probably why RF6 is willing to use potentially-lethal mass weapons on them. Second, the regeneration has to cost some kind of energy from whatever power supply the Hucks are pulling their abilities from. Third, where the heck did you get this "replacing limbs is cheaper than healing them" idea? By that logic, building a car from scratch should be cheaper than replacing a few broken parts on a damaged one. NOT!
 * Yeah, because replacing fragmented bones and torn muscles is just like replacing car parts, and it's clearly stated that the TSAB is struggling very hard to deal with thewse guys, even the new weapons are failed at doing significant damage(at least they let the wielder to actually be able to defend himself).
 * In the sense that healing a broken bone takes less energy than growing a completely new arm? Yes, actually, it's exactly like replacing car parts. And Cypha came right out and said that she doesn't have a flesh-and-bone body anymore anyway, which probably makes the description even more apt than I'd intended it to be. Also, Nanoha's usage of the Strike Cannon to blast through starship armor and Subaru nearly breaking Veyron's divider is proof enough that the new weapons are perfectly effective against the Hucks; if they're failing to do significant damage, it's because they've barely been used yet.
 * The "significant" damage you're talking about is a modest hole on a wall and it takes not only Nanoha's Striker Cannon but also Vita's War Hammer to actually acomplish that, oh, and the damage is start to regenerate quickly(Yes, the Huckebein's Warship also have the same ridiculous Healing Factor that Cypha posseses) i fail to see why that can be considered being "perfectly effective". I agree on Subaru's Sword Breaker tough(is the only AEC that don't suck thus far).
 * No, the significant damage I'm talking about is a hole in a layer of freaking starship armor, and the Cannon has enough oomph behind it to rock the ship even without Vita's assistance. The weapons are perfectly effective because they fulfill their intended roles; they are effective against the Huckbein (effective in the sense of "can hurt them", not "can reduce them to mincemeat just by being nearby" as you probably interpreted it) and allow a mage to fight an Eclipse Driver without getting WTFPWNED in one hit like Signum was. Any shortcomings they possess currently will be addressed with fine-tuning and upgrades over the course of the rest of the season. And in regards to the AECs "sucking", for all your talk of not ranting anymore you're very quick to dismiss them as weapons despite the fact that we've barely seen them used at all and they've been clearly indicated to be incomplete. I would strongly suggest that you keep your opinions to yourself until you have enough information to make an informed opinion, i.e. when we've seen the inevitable Full Drive equivalents and seen the AEC devices performing at their maximum capabilities. Then you'll be qualified to say whether they suck or not.
 * When it's true that there's not much information to say the AEC weapons suck there's also no evidence of their supposed "effectiveness", sure they usefull in keeping their wielder alive(sorta), but the fight aboard the Huckebein's Warship can barely be described as "even". If we talk about plot developement, this new upgrades are failed to made a big impact like their predecesors(if this are the writer's intentions i don't know), when the upgrades in A's can't defeat the Wolkenritter still shows to be capable of equal the grounds between their masters and such formidable foes. Same in Striker S when RF6 finally got serious and start to actually turn the tables on Jail's, before that the trope was masterfully avoided with the Wolkenritter that, despite having the exact same powerset as the last season, are perfectly capable of kick ass, i fail to get that atmosphere here in FORCE(probably with the Fortress Mode that finally can change but at the moment neither of the new, shinny, highly promoted weapons are able to do that). But, i agree with you that this is becoming too large, and we have distanced form the original topic that is about the Wolkenritter's credibility as warriors(i think Signum loss a good deal of credibility after this), from this point i only respond to commentaries related to the topic. If you want to state a point about something else, post a new WMG.
 * And that's if the story didn't end once she gets it, or if the author wants to give her one at all. Since this is Expying the events in SRW OG, there's always a chance that Cypha would bite the dust first before Signum gets hers.
 * If the story ends once Signum gets her AEC equipment, it'll be because Signum pulled a Big Damn Heroes Dynamic Entry and one-hit-KO'd the Big Bad and/or the entire Huckbein team. I've seen that "Signum = Lamia, Cypha = Juergen" train of logic used to explain why Signum is suffering Badass Decay, and I invite anyone who believes such rot to reread the last few lines of my first point up there; when you're done, consider the notion that Signum can even endure a curbstomp in a badass fashion. The Blazing General will suffer Badass Decay the same day Sanger Zonvolt does.
 * That may be true, but the mirroring of "Signum = Lamia, Cypha = Juergen" is in form of the fact that Juergen is killed mid-season, before Lamia returned. Perhaps it's a stretch to call 'The story ends when Signum gets her AEC equipment', but it's still possible that 'When Signum gets her AEC equipment, Cypha is already dead'. Nevertheless, it might be as in the author designed that maybe Cypha would get killed before Signum gets her sweet revenge.
 * I still give the benefit of the doubt because while it's true that Tsuzuki has taken the Signum/Lamia copypasta to dumb and ridiculous levels, it's also true that things are not going exactly like their original counterpart wich brings a little ray of hope, Lamia not only gets defeated, she's kidnapped, stripped naked, brainwashed and then shooted, the Humiliation Conga Signum is going throug looks much more lightly by comparission but we tend to forget that and are quickly prone to jump to conclusions and declare that thing will go exaclty like in SRW, even when the second and third elemnts of this even(the kidnapping and the brainwashing)are completely avoided(Signum and Agito are rescued by the good guys medic team and there are no signs of Eclipse contamination nor motives for the Huckebein to utilize Signum), so it's too soon to declare anything about Cypha's destiny or the resolution of her feud with the Blazing General.
 * The Eclipse contamination or using Signum for them is the job for the 'Duminuss' counterpart, and we have yet to see one. The Juergen counterpart (Cypha)'s job is just that: Put the Lamia counterpart (Signum) in humiliation and near death. But if it's not truly copypasta, then they probably skipped the Duminuss (because if they do, they'll need the Axel counterpart, Schach, to bail Signum out of corruption, and Schach thus far has been a bit too minor to do anything)
 * Exactly, that's the point, there so much elemnts differently executed to running up with the idea of a kidnapped Signum right now. Duminuss captures Lamia before the good guys can take her safely to their ship while Signum is already rescued and under medical treatement(also don't forget Agito which is a key element absent from the Lamia example). And also Lamia was pivotal to Duminuss and Juergen plans, so far nothing on the plot suggest any particular interest in Signum or Agito by part of the bad guys, she just happen to be in the way of Cypha's mission. Still the humiliation part can't be denied, Signum right now is in the low scale of the food chain, only time will tell if she's able to rise up on top again.
 * With the revelation that Vandine Corp. could've been an evil organization and was behind the Huckebeins, the president of the corp. may as well be the Duminuss counterpart and if he's been handing off faulty weapons, perhaps he did plan to corrupt Signum and Agito after all, by having Cypha trounce them and make them need an upgraded weapon... only for the weapon to corrupt them.

Veyron doesen't have a reactor.
At least currently, like someone on the previous WMG points, even when Cypha claims that once "reacted" they're essentially so tough that bladed weapons are useless against them, Veyron still uses his divider's blade to parry Tohma's own divider attacks and, on top of that, after being blasted by Erio's Strike Cannon(Ch. 9.5) he bleed notoriously, he don't posses a divider of his own(his current one is borrowed from an unknow character) and it don't adopt any new form since his battle with Tohma nor returns to a "standby form" after Tohma's Divide Zero(like Cypha's reacted one for example), that effectively makes him the underdog fighter among the Huckebein.
 * I wouldn't be so quick to make Veyron's parrying of Tohma's attacks a reason for claiming that he's that much weaker. Remember that The Law of Diminishing Defensive Effort has been averted before with Rein Eins still using barriers even though she can shrug off crap thrown at her perfectly fine without them. I will concede that I have no explanation for the bleeding, though.

Force's Darker and Edgier-ness will be cemented with a Back for the Dead.
A strong way of cementing the "this isn't the light stuff it used to be" feel would be to bring back one of the Demoted to Extra characters and kill him/her off.
 * I think that it was already cemented by bringing back one of the most awesome characters this franchise have and beat the tar out of her and left her near death.

Regius Gaiz wanted the Combat Cyborgs to fight the Huckebein.
The answer to defeating the Huckebein is to seperate yourself from magic use for both defense and offense and focus on purely physical effects. The latter is easy; mass weapons. It is clearly within the Bureau's technological wherewithal to create a sufficently powerful missile or railgun to turn a Huckebein's head to vapor. The former is the Combat Cyborgs. An Artifical Mage is a simple trick of genetic engineering, while a Combat Cyborg requires genetics knowledge and a whole lot of computer, electronics, and materials science too, plus more raw materials. If Regius Gaiz simply wanted to increase the number of high-ranked mages available to Ground Forces, Artificial Mage technology and a legion of Erios and Fates was a much cheaper way of going about it. But Regius supported Jail's Combat Cyborg research instead. He thought he would need troops that could stand up to punishment like a mage, in an environment where a mage's Barrier Jacket would not protect them.
 * You are forgetting that as of Force chapter 10, it is established that Combat Cyborgs (Subaru) are just as vulnerable against Eclipse effects as purely organic mages.
 * To be fair Subaru succumbs to Tohma's Divide Zero, an ability that apparently neither of the Huckebein posesses and that is much more dangerous than the Huckebein's anti-magic capabilities(they also are affected by Dvide Zero much to their own surprise), also, if the theory about Isis being a cyborg results true, then cyborgs can stand against an Eclipse Driver not named Tohma(As of Ch. 11 preview all indicates that Isis will face Arnage, considering that she's a new character i really doubt that this will end in another Curb Stomp Battle), also the information Regius have probably was inaccurately(like the info Signum had before facing Cypha). So, efective or not, it's plausible that they developed cyborgs with the Huckebein in mind.
 * Earlier in chapter 9 (I think), Subaru faces Veyron and is not much more effective against him than other members of the strike team against their respective opponents. And that's considering that she already has her AEC equipment on her.
 * That only counts if Subaru is fighting in Cyborg mode, we know that if she fights as a mage she's bound to the same handicaps as them, but we likely can't confirm this because we can't see if her eyes are golden or normal(i'm inclined to think she isn't because the cyborgs "circuit circle" and/or the "IS" patern around her attacks are nowhere to be seen). Still i don't think Arnage consider Isis dangerous only because of her amazing powder powers.

Sending the Wolkenritter against the Huckebein was the worst possible thing that could have been done.
They're made of condensed magic, just like Reinforce was. These are people who wield weapons capable of canceling magic with ease. Hayate, you lunatic, why didn't you think about what you were doing?!
 * Hayate never sent Wolkies against the Huckebein (in fact, she keeps Vita at long range fire support and Shamal, inside Wolfram). Signum was never supposed to even meet them before her AEC equipment was ready, she just was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 * Well yeah, they're made of magic but apparently they're more condensed than simple spells or Jackets, reacted Dividers cancel magic by cutting the links that allow the spell to take form and effect that's why any magical attack or barrier is useless against them, but i don't think that functions the same for magical living beings(specially if said beings are able to cast their own magic) if that were the truth, Signum and Agito would be erased of existence instead of sustaining critical injuries.
 * Even attaching them to the task force meant to the fight the Huckebein seems silly, though, considering what happened to Signum. Especially when Wolkenritter are accustomed to otherwise absorbing a killing blow as if nothing had happened. (Witness Vita aboard the Cradle.) Even arming the Wolkenritter with AEC weapons is dangerous; if you give them the tools to fight Huckebein, somebody's going to be tempted to use them to fight Huckebein. If the Wolkenritter are really as vulnerable as it appears from what happened to Signum then risking them is at best negligent. They are extremely powerful, capable mages, some of the best the Bureau has, and preserving them to fight other threats later would seem the wiser course of action.
 * So, wait, in your view the Wolkies will just let themselves be hit, thinking they'll survive it? That makes the trained warriors sound pretty damn incompetent.
 * And what the Wolkies themselves want is not an issue at all? Remember, they have sworn to protect Hayate as far back as A's, and that's not an oath you can break without compomising your very self. In one way or another, they had to be at her side during a crisis this big, and it's better to have them armed for this occasion. More than anything, what happened to Signum shows the dangers of splitting the team (in more ways than one).
 * Exactly, they definetly not the kind of people who retreats when they have something important to do, also i think Signum's demise is supossed to indicate the fate that awaits for ANY mage that attempts to confront(without the new toys) the Huckebein, not just the Wolkenritter. Also we must admit that despite all the claims over the matter, Signum put up a hell of a fight to an otherwise invincible opponent.
 * They've been deployed separately from Hayate before. Striker S did it quite a lot and the preceding manga actually had the Wolkenritter as part of different units from Hayate. For that matter, their personal feelings are irrelevant. Duty first is the air the Wolkenritter breathe and how they got through life before Hayate. The would have sworn an oath of service like any other Bureau member. If they're ordered, particularly by Hayate, not to do something, then they will not do it.
 * Let's just that we have different character interpretations. When the Wolkies were deployed separately, Hayate was never in particular danger. Now, the Hucks are a danger to every mage in the multiverse, so naturally, they want to be by her side. And as for their oath... I think your misunderstand something: they are with TSAB because Hayate is. It is true that they wanted to repent for their crimes after A's (see SS03), but their first and foremost desire is to spend the rest of their lives with Hayate (see StrikerS episode 18, I think, where her conversation with Shamal reveals that they are not longer immortal). Oh, and by the way, they also kinda have a record of ignoring Hayate's direct orders if they think it will save her life.
 * Arf mentions in the Striker S manga and Sound Stage M2 that, apparently at Fate's suggestion, she retired from active duty and now does chores around the Harlaown house while looking after Chrono and Amy's kids (and apparently also has spent a fair amount of time around Erio and Caro), saying that Fate is strong enough to protect herself and is no longer alone. Similarly, while Hayate's magic is such that she's almost useless in single combat and only reaches her full potential in a group, her subordinates can provide support, which is why she can serve separate from the Wolkenritter if necessary, calling them together for major threats like Scaglietti and the Huckebein.

Erio is secretly the best card of Section Six in FORCE.
By Vi Vid he's able to outclass Fate on both speed and skill(by catching up with her Sonic Form all by himself and nearly taking her down without breaking a sweat). Only God knows how much awesome the guy has become two years after, probably him receiving a Strike Cannon is an excuse to not let himself cut loose on the Huckebein at Mach 5.
 * After Fate had a power limiter put on herself, and was fighting 2-on-1, I should note. The Hucks have no such handicap.
 * It's noted that the power limiter is given out to the "adults", which is a somewhat vague term (it's unclear whether it includes just Nanoha and Fate, or the Forwards, Lutecia and Nove), but it could be of different strength, as while Nanoha and Fate's limiters reduce them two ranks in Striker S, Hayate's takes her down by four.
 * Potentially Jossed, at least so far; . Subaru seems poised to be the "best card," at least as far as dealing with Touma goes.

Cypha is the second-weakest Huckebein, after Veyron.
Think back to her fight with Signum. She wasn't fast enough to lay a hand on her, and in fact was taken completely by surprise at her speed on two separate occasions. The one hit that decided the duel was obtained through surprise. In the brief boarding battle, she showed no signs of being a particularly difficult opponent for Fate, indicating her bark is a bit worse than her bite.
 * This will be probably jossed soon(and i hope for it), when it's true that Cypha didn't demonstrate to be able to keep on par with Signum's skill before reacting, she also proves how dangerous her Eclipse powers are, her profile also states that she's a founder member of the group and also an Ace, wich she demonstrates by apparently having a higher chain in command than Arnage ans leading the welcome team(Veyron and Deville) during said boarding battle, she apparently is the kind of villain that enjoys torturing his foes, so probably she was measuring Fate's capabilities until Tohma interrupts her(and everyone), she doesen't look specially worried while fighting Fate(wich is demonstrated by contrast with her reaction to Tohma's attack wich is much more surprised and dramatic). As much as i hate her, it will be a shame if she results to be a weak opponent(just adding more hulliation to Signum's defeat).
 * As much as I hoped it won't happen, it can happen to further the similarity with Lamia. Cypha being a weaker member of the Huckebein would be mirroring how Juergen was basically a nobody-class villain who got lucky shot in humiliating Lamia.
 * It's still soon to determine that, while it's true Signum's situation mirror Lamia's somewhat, the similarities ends in both being defeated by a newcomer. Again as much as i hate Cypha i must admit that she fight a one-on-one battle(with an unfair advantage but is still one on one) while Juergen just take Lamia by surprise(still the situation is metaphorically the same, Lamia was out of her mecha while Signum have her powers nullified and her weapon rendered useless by Cypha's Game Breaker powers), Still Cypha is able to hold an upgraded Fate with ease during the ship assault and the battle is short lived thanks to Tohma, unlike Juergen who gets offed quite easily right on his next fight. We still didn't see her fight a fair battle yet(that is, against an opponent whose powers she can't negate, thus needing to truly use her combat skills), when that happens we're finally going to see if her bite is as strong as her bark.
 * Well, to be honest, Juergen did put up quite the massive fight against the EFA, if comparisons are to be taken how Cypha held off an upgraded Fate... We're just probably waiting for the 'Duminuss' of Force to show its head and then off Cypha and maybe the rest of the Huckebeins (or, failing that, one of the Huckebeins stabbed her in the back, killing her)

Rein Eins's Starlight Breaker will be even more ginormous(ly powerful) in MOVIE 2nd.
In The Original Series, Nanoha's SLB was, at best, the size of a city block. When A's came, many went HOLY SHIT to see Rein's SLB engulf most if not all of Uminari. Now that MOVIE 1st has raised the bar by making Movie!Nanoha!SLB engulf a city too, the only way to bring about the same "Shitshitshitshit Nanoha's fucking out of her league" feeling would be to give Movie!Rein's SLB a proportional boost. Maybe all of Japan?
 * I think "all" of Japan would feel a bit unrealistic(for the level we're accustomed at least) but i do agree on that Rein Ein's SLB must top Nanoha's, it's one of the crucial moments when we get a shot of how godly powerful Reinforce Eins really is(she's not called the "Female Broly" for nothing). In The MOVIE 1st Nanoha blew and area the size of a small-to-average city, Reinforce can top that one by casting a SLB big enough to engulf a city the size of Tokyo along with some of it's surrounding districts or even an area the scale of a small state.

Signum will never get the chance to use her AEC upgrade...
...because she doesn't need it. What will happen instead is that Signum will show up to face Cypha in their last fight with damaged equipment, maybe even without Levantine. When Cypha goes in for the kill, Signum will demonstrate just how vast the gulf in skill between them is by channeling Lamia's other expy complete with an appropriate Phantasm Phoenix-like Overdrive that powers up her fire magic until the heat alone can overwhelm Cypha's Huckbein haxx, thus demonstrating once and for all why Signum is called The Blazing General. This will also be how the SIGNUM PUNCH becomes an official attack.
 * Other possibility is because of the release of the new product from Caledfwich Techniques, there are now theories of the security company being the real Big Bad of FORCE. Planning to supply the heroes with faulty prototypes on purpose to make their real product to look good by comparission. If that turns out to be the case at the moment Signum awakes I really doubt she think of going to battle with the AEC equipment designed for her. Probably causing Laevatein to undergo the 5th Gen Upgrade or simply go hardcore and rushing to the battle with her normal devices and a dangerous strategy.

Mid-Childa is communist
Not Stalinist or Maoist, but idealistically communist. Think about it:


 * Society: The Mid is basically a clean, scientifically advanced Utopia that the communists of early 20th century believed themselves to be able to achieve.
 * Economy: The topic of money is thoroughly neglected throughout the series, but everyone keeps working to their fullest, and there are no homeless or poverty.
 * Thats EXTREMELY dubious. Just because YOU dont see it doesnt mean its not there. The series just doesnt focus on such possible elements. For all the Loads and Loads of Characters How many were not already working within the military?
 * Politics: There are no politics, instead, the entire government on the Mid consists of the Bureau, read: the Communist Party.
 * Religion: Religion is not abandoned altogether, but put into service of the state, with only one ideology propagated across the worlds, even where TSAB is not present yet.

The Saint Church would disagree with the statement that there is no religion on Mid-Childa and as for Politics--the show deals primarily wtih military and police matters, so a lack of focus on elections or other leaders is not surprising. Hell, there are the  to worry about too.
 * That doesn't quite work. We see monetary transactions with the devices doubling as credit cards in Striker S.

Fate's Original outfit Sepculation
Some Fridge Brilliance about it, actually. At first her outfit appears unrealistically fetishized and an obvious sign of pandering to the demographic. Then we meet the mother she is always striving to please and make happy. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all...

There's going to be a bronze or platinum cross Belkan book.
The Night Sky's cross was gold. The Silver Cross is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Therefore, to keep the pattern of precious metal-coloured crosses going, I think you can see what will have to come.

Nanoha will develop reverse Adult Mode magic
And use it to compete in the same tournament as Vivio as her A's self.
 * They won't let her. She would wipe the floor with pretty much everyone thanks to her vast real combat experience--just like she did with Einhart during their training. Plus, she made a career wiping the floor with cooling the heads of wannabe mages for their own good. Even the reduced mana output of a child's body won't do much to diminish her power, since she was already a AAA ranked mage in A's. Face it: not even Vivio can beat Loli!Nanoha.

Ixpellia will wake up sometime during Vi Vid
If Vivio is Irui, then Ixpellia is probably Alfimi, both of them being high-placed units of great importance in their respective armies of darkness, but not being fully in control of their minions. Using this comparison and taking it to its logical conclusion, there are two possible outcomes: either Ixpellia follows the Impact route and stays comatose for the rest of the story, or she takes the Original Generations Gaiden route and wakes up after a brief absence from the plot. Either of these routes could work for the story, and yet the artists keep cutting back to characters taking care of Ixy, talking about visiting her, etc... as if to make sure we don't forget she's there...
 * Don't forget that ViVid is essentially a fighting story, and Ixy has never been a good fighter, as far as we know.
 * "As far as we know" is not very far at all, considering that she's had all of about two scenes or so, neither of them animated. She definitely doesn't like to fight, but that doesn't mean she can't, or that she wouldn't be averse to recreational combat that doesn't involve all-out warfare and armies of cyborg zombies killing everything in their path. It's a moot point anyways, since Ixpellia could just as easily be a spectator as a participant and still be involved in the plot.

The SCP Foundation, its derivatives, and or Expy's of it, exist in Nanoha's Universe

 * This is why theres "little to no magic at all" on Earth.
 * Remember that the only time we hear an explanation, its an adult talking to a child. Both Nanoha and Graham had contact with the TSAB SHORTLY into their respective exposures to magic. Graham did not not nanoha to be aware of the grim organizations residing on Earth, and the implications.
 * The only reason Nanoha and her friends are not currently dead, imprisoned, or worse, is because the TSAB was able to get there first; and also establish "first dibs" on claim to the Jewel Seeds. The SCP Foundation(or its resident expy) fears the far larger TSAB and so did not go to arms over the matter.

Agito's original intended user was Signum in ancient Belka
Or at least the person that the Signum Program installed in the Tome of the Night Sky/Book of Darkness was based on. Think about it, Agito's title is Sword Spirit of Blazing Flame, and she mentions in Striker S Sound Stage 03 that her original "lord" was probably a sword fighter. Now, Signum is a sword fighter, and the first special move we see her do in the series is power up her sword with fire. Also, they go well together, Zest mentions that after the first time they fight. And Signums origins are certainly old enough, and Agito is apparently so old that everyone she doesn't remember have been dead for hundreds of years (at least that's the impression she gives.
 * There is a nearly identical theory on Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

Caledfwlch Techniques or someone within the company is the true villain of Force
Think back to the first few chapters, back when Touma first met Lily and the whole mess with the Huckbein got started. Remember the scientist guys, the guards armed with assault rifles, and most importantly the head scientist's line "Such a thing is what we were about to create" (referring to Touma's reaction with Lily)? Call me crazy, but I think those guys were deliberately trying to create an Eclipse Driver.

Now why on Earth would anyone want to create an absurdly powerful living weapon that's immune to magic and needs to kill to live? Well for starters, if the Eclipse virus is able to spread beyond the handful of individuals currently infected with it, the bureau could be facing an epidemic of super-powered mass murderers that their magic is useless against. In such a situation, there would be a sudden and immense demand for mass weapons capable of hurting an Eclipse Driver. And isn't it a curious coincidence that Caledfwlch Techniques just so happens to have a line of magic-driven weapons armed and ready for testing just in time for the bureau's hunt for the Book of the Silver Cross?
 * Caledfwlch are obviously the Front Organization for the Belkan Conspiracy (see above).
 * Calling it now. Caledfwlch Techniques ARE the Duminuss answer to Huckebein's ODE.
 * Suspicion confirmed in-story in chapter 17.

Fate has her own soul, but Alicia's Heart
...Can't think of how to elaborate, but it's a nice theory.

Karen of Huckebein is Isis' big sister
I mean, have you seen how alike they look? Just compare Isis' introductory shot and Karen's.

Fortis is The Starscream
Come on, look at him and tell me he's not a sketchy motherfucker. The fact that Karen seems to leave often would be useful for him if this was the case, too.

Veyron is to Karen as Lily is to Touma
They didn't say anything about these Human Reactors all needing to be girls, did they?
 * Except that Fortis says that they need to find Veyron's Divider soon and Reactors are not supposed to have Dividers, logically. Unless... Karen deliberately didn't tell him of Veyron's true nature, knowing that he is The Starscream! Which leads us to...

The Hucks are a Big Screwed-Up Family
See above.

The Al-Hazredians were temporally-displaced Terrans
Humans from an Earth-based multi-stellar civilization in the future (2500s, 2600s, etc.) were sucked up by a dimensional distortion and spat out in the Hazred System in the distant past. They colonized the world, started a new civilization there with their advanced tech and/or magic and/or Magitek, and their civilization eventually gave rise to the Belkans, who in turn gave rise to the Midchildans. That may also explain why Fate's last name sounds kinda Italian - maybe Precia Testarossa's distant ancestors were Italian or some other Terran nationality, and they were among those who got tossed through time to Al-Hazred, and the lineage continued down through the centuries/millennia to Precia, Alicia, & Fate.

The Huckebein are not intended to be the Wolkenritter's Evil counterparts, but their replacement instead
According to a theory recently commented. Given the not so subtle similarities between the two groups and the results of the direct confrontation between it's members(specially Hayate and Signum's battles) It's more or less stablished that the Huckebein is an improved version of the Wolkenritter on their debut(crueler and stronger). The amount of attention and screentime Tsuzuki is giving them, and the fact that they stablished their superiority by utterly trouncing mostly Yagami family members(effectively putting Signum on a bus for example), makes the sentsation that the plot ir riding of them on purpouse to cement their dethroning as a Badass Family at the hands of the Huckebein.

Subaru will Befriend Stella.
Stella is named for a make of Subaru car, after all.
 * Looking at Subaru's trend of being "the friend of all children" this seems to be plausible.
 * Teana is gonna be sooo happy about yet another loli rival.

Stella has an Older Alter Ego that will be one of the strongest fighters in the Huckebein.
Blonde loli who controls/powers a ship... Nope, doesn't ring a bell at all.

Unison devices were once mages.
Unison devices are the pinnacle of artificial intelligence and so much human-like because they are created from a critically injured (or not) human mage, using their linker core as a base. In this manner they function similarly to Dreadnoughts. It was a great honor to be considered worthy of being turned into a unison device to be able to continue serving one's lord.
 * Rein was created using the linker core of Reinforce (and possibly part of Hayate's?).
 * Agito is ancient. It's very probable, though not outright stated, that she was Signum's unison device before she got absorbed into the Book. Although we don't know how she was created, it might stand to reason that a unison device is created optimized for a specific master, and that this assignment can't be changed after the act.
 * Considering that part of the Book of Darkness in the PSP game Gears of Destiny was actually human before becoming Unlimited Darkness, it's very probable.

Reinforce Eins is going to be Centered Character again in the PSP game Gears of Destiny
In the Battle of Aces there were talks about Reinforce doesn't have much time left before she disappear. The Materials reappearing in the game most likely indicate that she and the Defense program are still around. It is most likely that the time of Reinforce's disappearance is going to happen soon during the Gears of Destiny story.
 * And also The Florian Sisters, who are guardians of time, are causing trouble with the main cast because of the split timeline caused when Reinforce didn't perform her "Heroic Sacrifice" at the end of A's like her Main Counterpart.

Precia was every bit as abusive towards Alicia as she was towards Fate, albeit with moments of apparently genuine kindness.
During her rant about how she despises Fate for being so completely different from Alicia, she also -- quite strangely -- goes off on a tangent about how Alicia could occasionally be disobedient. This could be read as simply another way that Fate (who is loyal beyond reason) is different from Alicia, or it could be an indication that no matter what Alicia or Fate were like, Precia wouldn't have been satisfied with anything less than her idea of perfection. Objections that Fate's inherited memories from Alicia show her being kind can be overruled by suggesting that Alicia received occasional kindness because Precia's emotional state wasn't quite as deterioriated yet. Objections based on Fate's vision of a kind Precia in the Book of Darkness and the illusory Alicia's statements about her mother's character ignore the fact that those visions are based on Fate's own beliefs ... and she has a desperate need to believe that Precia really was a good person underneath it all.

The Forwards never entered an Inter-Middle
Because they would pretty much slaughter every non-Forward participant there if they did. Teana, the magically-weakest member of the four, "killed" three combat cyborgs who were using lethal force against her, while crippled. The kids who participate in these tournaments do it just for fun and challenge. Sure, they may win on technical points but if it really comes to taking the opponent down, very few things can top Nanoha and Vita's Training From Hell and actual combat experience.
 * This is debatable as Einhart is able to defeat Nove and there are other even more powerfull fighters there like Micaiah who is able to beat Einhart in a practice and slice buses with barely any effort. There's also Sieglinde who is strong enough to curbstomp Micaiah herself and is an undefeated champion.
 * Nove didn't even use her IS against Heidi IIRC, yet she managed to plant a bug on her and make her collapse a minute later. In other words, Nove was in control of the fight the whole time. As for Sieglinde and Micaiah, sure, they have nice techniques and it may bring them victory, but they are not kicking ass for a living like the Forwards.

Curren is Veyron's reactor
Think about it a little. She never use a proper divider in battle, she seems to be very proficient with the Book she have and before her onscreen debut Veyron was the one who gives more hints about her existence. Coupled with the fact that Veyron use a borrowed Divider and he said he's ok with that there must be reasons for why things are like that.

Strosek the First will be used by (IS?!) The Man Behind the Man.
It makes too much sense for Lily to have to eventually fight her Super Prototype, who may be a Psycho Prototype too.

Signum is actually scared of Cypha
Think about it, she was very shocked when Laevateinn got destroyed, enough to let Cypha cross-slashing her, then she allowed herself getting impaled even when she's supposedly a determinated Blood Knight. But the real kicker came with her reaction upon recovering counciousness: She completely ignored what just happened and act without a bit of motivation in pursuing a rematch with an opponent strong enough to almost kill her. She instead becomes all smiles, a notorious change for someone who is cannonly described as someone who really enjoy battles. Considering how easily Cypha trounced her and how Signum described herself as being nothing more than an old fashioned knight, it's not strange for her to feel afraid of the Huckebein top swordswoman.
 * She probably recognized that if she even showed fear and regret about the loss, it would severely demoralize the whole team. She recognized the defeat, but she'll not let her emotions and fear get the best of her, so she's been hiding it. Or not, considering on how she instantly sparred with Tohma to get some idea on how to fight Mage Killer weapon. In other words, she might not ignore what just happened, but she'd rather not let the others know her worry or else it demoralizes the whole squad.
 * At least that can be interpreted as a confirmation of this WMG. Signum is pretty councsious she's at horrible disadvantage in front of Cypha and basically any fully reacted EC Driver. Her usual combat style that credited her as a Lightning Bruiser got totally destroyed by the new rules of the setting, she can fight but isn't able to deal lasting damage to a Huckebein and she can't stand even one hit from almost any of them, her trusty companion is repaired but hasn't received any upgrades so she more likely will receive a totally different AEC-weapon that she's not used to fight with(and if we go by the showed quality of blades on AEC-equips, i'll say it won't be as trusty as Laevatein xDU). Plus, she's fully councsious that she's now even weaker than when she confronted Cypha the first time, her body wasn't able to fully recover and is even implied that she may suffer permanent sequels because of that last impalement that go directly through her guts injuring her spine. Her fangs are broke and she know it, that's why she's suddenly modest and calm. It could be very justified for her to feel afraid of the Eye-Patched monster that puts her on that situation.

Egret SS are secretly the shady sort of Private Military Contractors. Secretly enough that Isis doesn't know.
Does anyone honestly expect otherwise?
 * Goes hand in hand with the "Evil Mega Corp" theory about Caledwlch and Vandein.

Yuuno is involved in black ops. Being head of the Infinity Library is merely a front, something like official cover.
This is the real reason why he's being shunted out of the limelight. After all, no black operative should be in the news. What does he really do now anyway?

Al Hazard will be featured sometime in the future
The mysterious country (or planet) said to contain secret and forbidden magical arts and technologies mentioned early in the series will, at some point, be a setting of a Nanoha story arc. If you think about it, Precia's claims about it existing may have certain truths to it, as she was a researcher before her Start of Darkness and after losing her only child, devoted much of her time and effort to finding the forbidden city, even theorizing that she will be able to get there with a bare minimum of 14 jewel seeds. I think it's also mentioned somewhere that Jail's combat cyborg technology was derived from Al Hazardian concepts.
 * Let's not forget that Al Hazard was already a lost civilization even in the times of Ancient Belka so probably also the Belkan technology has some of it's roots on that.

Raising Heart is the Super Prototype for modern Mid-Childian weaponry
Nanoha's device, who's history is still left unknown could very well be Mid-Childa's version of a powerful prototype weapon. To elaborate...
 * It was first seen and used by Yuuno, an archaeologist, who couldn't even use it properly, despite knowing the incantation on how to activate it. He may have read the specs of the device through some kind of decryption magic but is unable to use it because he lacks certain qualities.
 * Raising Heart only works properly when somebody possessing high magical powers (in this case, Nanoha) uses it, making this a rather specific criteria for it's usage. It can be said that Raising Heart requires a lot of magical energy for it to work, thus any mage below a certain rank (possibly AAA, since Nanoha registers at that rank on the TSAB scale in the first season) wouldn't be able to handle it.
 * Tuning up and/or upgrading Raising Heart as stated by Nanoha herself is quite difficult as the necessary parts needed for it are either rare, or is already out of production. If upgrades are possible (such is the case with the cartridge system), there are other parts that may need tuning up or reinforcement.
 * Raising Heart functions mostly as a high powered beam cannon/shotgun/rifle, putting emphasis on power and range. This characteristics coincide with the Mid-Childian magical philosophy of long distance combat.

Miura is a guy
As of the latest chapter we learn that Miura also has a teenage mode... and still is flat as a board.
 * Or maybe she's just gonna be a flat-chested teenager. Specially considering that there are other examples of flat-chested grown girls like Otto and Sein.
 * Otto isn't really a good example, since it's never stated what hir gender actually is (and even hir sisters don't know).

Cypha wears an eye-patch for reasons different than a damaged/missing eye
Seeing at how high she thinks of her abilites and how much she enjoys having a good battle, she probably considered using the eye-patch to give herself a handicap and thus having more challenging fights(plus, it makes her look more menacing). Another theory is that the eye-patch have special features that enhace her sight or aid her in battle. There's even the possibility that the patch actually conceals a hidden weapon meant to be used on an emergency and Cypha is yet to face a truly dangerous opponent.

Unison Devices are fragments of a Mage's linker core's elemental affinity
Though this series show Elemental Magic less often than others, there are mages capable of using one or two forms of elemental based spells (Fate & Erio's magic are lightning based, Signum uses a flaming sword etc...). Then there are Unison Devices, small magical beings capable of fusing with a mage and enhance their magic with a certain element. They can also use magic by themselves and is also shown to be capable of handling their own Device. N Ow since one of them is explicitly stated to be born from the linker core of a mage (Rein), this theory makes a lot of sense.
 * Except canon stated that Rein's ice-based magic isn't an "Elemental Affinity" and the original Reinforce didn't displayed any preference for an element. It's a mistery how Unison Devices are created but if Rein Zwei is any indication they can born from the fuse of a linker core(if this is the real process or is a special event is left to guess). Still, their elemental powers seems to be only something that comes with some of them. So far the only two elements officially classified as MCA(Mana Conversion Affinity) are Lightning and Fire(the latter barely).
 * It's not the original Reinforce's Linker core that makes Rein's magic lean towards Ice, It's Hayate's Linker core that possible gave Rein her elemental affinity since canon also states that Rein was born from Hayate's linker core.
 * Reinforce Zwei was born from the fusion of Hayate's Linker Core with the original Reinforce's. And, as stated above, canon dismissed the idea of "ice" as an elemental affinity.

Signum never properly learned how to dodge
Only that could explain why she stays still in front of Cypha waiting to be cross-slashed. Signum had plenty of time to avoid cut-range while Cypha was giving her a small smug speech about desperation. Another evidence is how Signum always prefer to tank or parry instead of dodging. Possibly a bad habit acquired after centuries of being a Nigh Invulnerable super strong knight.

The Dimensional Sea is the Warp
This would explain a number of things, including: why there is a range limit on interdimensional travel, why it takes time measured in hours or days, and why it looks like it does.

Al Hazred is El Hazard the Magnificent World
The people of El Hazard seem to have a form of Sufficiently Advanced Technology, including two weapons of mass destruction (a Death Star expy and an artificial-mage-slash-android wielding what's basically an ion cannon in staff form). The drill-tipped buildings in the TOS imagery are reminiscent of the Arabian Nights-style architecture.

Curren's abilities are similar to UBW
She uses a katana(or a shorter version, possibly a wakizashi) to shank Hayate in the back and dispatch Vita and Erio before commenting that the blade was not as tough as the opponent's weapons after it breaks. later, we see her wielding a different kind of sword (a rapier) without any mention of why she prefers wielding different swords. Since she is one of the few members of Huckebein who's abilities have not been revealed, it can be guessed that her primary offensive ability is to create replicas of swords. It could also be theorized that she can replicate her allies' unreacted dividers if she so pleases.

Yuuno is actually a Memetic Badass who's only pretending to be weak
Just look at what he can do with barriers and stuff in A's. Huge, multiple multi-layered barriers and sealing spells without a device. The theory is that he actually has a device, and given his skill, he'd be a total Game Breaker with it. However, he's an Actual Pacifist, hence why he keeps out of the action so often.