This will be quick, I promise.

There seems to be a discrepancy with the sprites versus the artwork when it comes to Ein as she’s seen in 3rd.

The image above is the design we’ve all known of Ein since we’ve seen her for the first time in the 3rd. Even in the Special Collection Book, we see a clear shot of her clothing there, on top of what we’ve seen of her in flashbacks.

During the scene with her in 3rd, we see her on her Merkabah, when Kevin’s giving her his report of the events through the game. We never see a face-on with this sprite. Even in the sprite sheets for the game, there isn’t a 360-degree version.  There’s no need for it, really.

But the important part of this, and the observation being noted in this post is that the clothing on her sprite does not match the clothing of her artwork at all.

I’ve included images from the sprite sheet of Ein from the scene.

When looking at her sprite, the first thing I had noticed was the length of her cape- it’s not nearly long enough. It’s not even waist length- so perhaps it’s even a mantle.

The sleeves of her outfit have decorations- beyond that, trim, even on the cuffs. Not to mention the boots- not only did the Ring of Judgment manga point out her high heels (with a really amusing picture to boot), but so did the Carnelia books. They seem to be kind of a characteristic of her design.

Last, but not least, she is most definitely armed- she appears to have a sword on her belt.

Since the black may make it hard to see the details as she’s in dark clothing, also allow me to provide a screenshot from the scene itself:

Is Ein in the middle of a job and wearing a disguise? This wouldn’t be the only time she’s done this, if you look at the Ring of Judgment manga.

Ring of Judgment places her in Erebonia just before Zero no Kiseki. Perhaps she’s working there undercover? Or is there something else keeping her busy?

We have, after all, seen other Dominion in disguise. Kevin’s outfit at that masquerade was terrible, too.