Prince Kills Lemon

Prince Kills Lemon is a turning point in which Lemon’s attempt to control the Prince is interrupted by the effects of medication, giving the Prince an opening to seize the gun and later kill him. The scene sets a children’s railway story against an immediate threat, then turns the Prince’s apparent helplessness into an opportunity to act.

The Story and the Threat

Lemon tells the Prince that Duck, a locomotive on Sodor Island, was framed by Diesel as a gossip. In Lemon’s account, the other locomotives believed the accusation and turned against Duck. Lemon delivers the tale with the energy of someone addressing a crowd, and the Prince is drawn into listening. Yet Lemon is also handling a gun: he has removed its silencer and now twists it back into place with practiced, measured movements. The Prince realizes that he did not notice when Lemon retrieved the weapon from the backpack. The familiar story and the careful preparation unfold together, leaving the Prince unable to respond as Lemon finishes preparing the gun and points it at him.

The Threat Reverses

Lemon draws a lesson from Duck’s story: the locomotive, falsely branded a gossip, refuses to answer his accusers with cowardice. As Lemon finishes, the gun is aimed at the Prince. The contrast between the children’s tale and the danger before him leaves the Prince momentarily unable to act; he watches the weapon and waits for Lemon to fire.

Instead, Lemon’s arm begins to sag. He blinks, touches his face, and yawns, appearing unable to stay alert. The Prince recognizes the signs from a previous occasion when he used strong sleeping medication against a classmate. Lemon admits that he is becoming sleepy, and the Prince takes the opening: he wrests the gun away, evades Lemon’s sluggish attempt to strike him, and retreats as Lemon loses his balance and collapses. The balance of power changes abruptly, not through the Prince’s plan but through the medication’s unexpected effect.

The Key and the Killing

The Prince notices an ordinary-looking bottle of mineral water beside Lemon and suspects that it may have contained the medicine, though he cannot establish who put it there. His relief at surviving turns into a belief that he is exceptionally lucky. That confidence lasts only until Lemon, despite appearing asleep, suddenly grabs the Prince by the lapel and pulls him down. When Lemon struggles to remain conscious, he gives a message for Tangerine: the key Tangerine wants is in a coin locker in Morioka. Lemon then slumps forward; the Prince can tell that he is still breathing.

A small picture of a green train engine beneath Lemon’s hand makes the Prince wonder whether it is a signal to his partner. He removes it and throws it away, then takes Lemon into the bathroom, where Kimura is already dead. The Prince shuts and locks the door, places Lemon there, and uses the gun to kill him. He leaves the gun in the bathroom rather than keep it in his backpack, reasoning that its presence there is consistent with the deaths of Kimura and Lemon and would be harder to explain on his person. Before leaving, he uses wire to lock the door from the gangway. The scene thus converts Lemon’s last message into a clue for Tangerine while the Prince tries to make the bathroom, and the weapon, appear separate from his own movements.

Immediate Aftermath

The killing does not close the scene so much as turn it toward its next connection. After locking the bathroom door from the gangway with wire, the Prince takes Kimura’s phone from his bag and calls the last number in its history. A gruff male voice answers, but the exchange has only begun: the narrative leaves the person on the other end unidentified, carrying the consequences of the bathroom scene beyond the locked door.