The answer is a lot closer than it seems.
Although it feels like they almost had it in the last episode, some of the important details were missing. I kind of expected this since they didn’t live during that time period, so there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding Houtarou’s theory. The only logical answer is to ask a person who witnessed it. Surprisingly, the librarian Itoigawa Yuko, knows about the whole incident.
From the facts she revealed from her experience, it’s kind of interesting that the students decided to pick Eru’s uncle as the leader. Of course, nobody would want to do it since they don’t want to get expelled and I doubt that he had a choice. Also, the protest wasn’t much of a riot, but rather an accident since the bonfire used for the protest has burned down an old building. After that, they simply used him as a sacrifice rather than a hero as depicted with the hare being eaten up by the hound on the cover. This makes total sense now!
Lastly, the mystery behind the anthologies’ title finally gets revealed. Needless to say, I typed 氷菓 into the Japanese to English dictionary and surprisingly enough, it lead me to “popsicle” or “sorbet” (氷菓子), a type of ice cream. If you know some kanji, you should know that 氷 and 菓 means ice and sweets (or fruit/cakes) respectively. That word is rarely used since in Japanese, ice cream is commonly written as アイスクリーム, but that is besides the point. It’s a rather clever pun since it also means “I scream” if you pronounce it in English. Obviously, you will scream when a hound tears apart a hare. This discovery leads us to Eru remembering something about her childhood regarding her uncle.
Aside from that, the way that they concluded the whole mystery in Episode 5 really amazed me. However, there are a few things that remain unanswered after this episode. First, what ever happened to the first volume of the anthologies? Also, who was the person who actually started this movement? I suppose the show wants us to think about it so the answer doesn’t look clear-cut.
With that, it seems that we are diving into another arc next time. Whatever it might be, we have to find out next time.
I’m still keeping a look to a possible “addition” to this story in a future arc. Maybe with Eru reuniting with her uncle. That would be great! 😛
Yeah, this could be a possibility… or perhaps the first volume was not named Hyouka, but something else. Still, I wonder if they are saving his reappearance until the end or something..