Topic: The second most difficult Castlevania thread in history

[Nagumo]

Let's try making sense out of PoR's story.

How does the whole "Brauner controls the power of the castle with his paintings" thing actually work? What does "controlling the castle's power" mean exactly? We know Brauner wants control over the castle's power but what does he plan to do with it exactly? Near the end of the game it's mentioned Brauner is working on "a painting that can destroy the world". Is that what he needed the castle's power for? How exactly can you destroy the world with a painting?

     

[The Puritan]

Aren't Brauner's paintings embodiments of his will? He was probably making some apocalyptic force/Lovecraftian abomination within his painting, and he only needed the castle's power to bring it to life.

[zangetsu468]

Brauner's paintings are an embodiment of his (the artist's) will. The way I see it Brauner was only having control of the castle's power by siphoning (or diverting) the power to Dracula's Throne room into create his final masterpiece which he didn't get to finish due to

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Jonathan and Charlotte intercepting him and Death striking the final blow so that Dracula could be resurrected.

It's not ever explained exactly how this was going to take place. From what comes out of his brush in the final battle with him, one could assume is was to be a hellish monster of sorts.

[theplottwist]

Let's try making sense out of PoR's story.

How does the whole "Brauner controls the power of the castle with his paintings" thing actually work?

(click to show/hide)

He's not using paintingS. He's using A painting to do it: The Studio Painting. Jonathan does say he is using paintingS to make the castle's power his, but Charlotte later elaborates how, saying they are "a series of walls that surround the magic controlling Dracula's Castle. The painting itself is just the outermost wall".

It is impossible to reach the Studio Painting without destroying every single painting before it. They are like firewalls protecting the actual painting used to accomplish this feat. This painting is cutting off the Throne from the castle.

During SotN we learn Shaft-possessed Richter is the master of the castle. He has access to the throne and Shaft says that Richter being the strongest vampire hunter ensures that he can destroy anyone trying to screw with his plan. On top of this, we see Richter exert this masterhood to order demons to appear and kill Alucard.

During Aria we learn that whoever makes it to the throne first, controls the castle. Graham ends up making it to the throne first, thus he becomes the castle's master. On the average ending, Soma defeats Graham, and then Arikado explains he's therefore the new master. Soma orders the castle to return them to reality, and the castle obeys, but at this point we have already seen Graham manipulate the castle's power and explain he could have ordered the same thing easily with "his newfound powers".

During Dawn we learn "having inherited Dracula's powers" is useless to becoming Demon King, which explains the above: Graham became the master of the castle because he reached the throne first, not because he had Dracula's powers. He was no Demon King, but still could order the castle to obey -- same as Soma.

These games, together, are explaining that you can make it to the throne and become the castle's master. This grants you the power to order the castle to do what you want. But you still need to be powerful enough to defend it, lest someone comes, defeats you, and becomes the new master.

During PoR: There is no throne to "make it to", because Brauner separated it from the castle using the Studio Painting, and created a number of other paintings that must be destroyed first in order to reach this painting. The throne is needed to revive Dracula, which could explain why Brauner separated it in the first place: While one can make it to the throne and become the castle's master when Dracula is not there, this doesn't ensure Dracula ISN'T gonna revive and kick your ass out of HIS throne. So, Brauner severed it away with the Studio Painting, and protected the Studio with other paintings to become the castle's master ensuring that, at the same time, there's no risk of Dracula suddenly appearing and ruining the plan, and that there's no risk of someone else appearing and robbing Brauner of this power. And, sure enough, Death does say this was a clever plan.

Brauner made it to the throne, gained masterhood of the castle, and sealed the throne away, stopping anyone else from becoming the master while stopping Dracula's revival at the same time.

Let's put it this way: Brauner is a hacker. His paintings are a ransomware. Dracula's castle is a computer. Dracula is the computer's owner. The throne is the bios. Jonathan and Charlotte are the antivirus.

When a hacker gains control your computer with a ransomware,  they lock away all of your files and system behind a paywall that is protected by encryption, making it much harder for you to regain control of YOUR machine. He is the current master of the computer, but doesn't mean he's the computer's owner, though. He separated what puts YOU in control of your computer, and what would put anyone else in control of your computer if they physically reached your computer first. Jonathan and Charlotte act as the antivirus, slowly undoing the encryption until the last one is destroyed and the bios is free, at which point you can regain your rightful position as the computer's owner.

Also, interesting to note: The castle is not operating at full power. DRACULA is the only one who can do it. This is confirmed when Brauner is defeated and Dracula is revived, with Charlotte explaining that he is "restoring the castle's power". This also means that Brauner is pretty much vampirizing Dracula's castle to finish his painting. He doesn't give a shit for Dracula or his castle.

We know Brauner wants control over the castle's power but what does he plan to do with it exactly? Near the end of the game it's mentioned Brauner is working on "a painting that can destroy the world". Is that what he needed the castle's power for? How exactly can you destroy the world with a painting?

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Remember how Dracula, when transforming, verbally says "Grant me power"? Who do you think he's asking for power? When Dracula is defeated, the castle crumbles, right? So, hear me out:

In PoR we learn that Dracula can "restore the castle's power". The longer he is revived, the stronger is the power of the castle (which already is extremelly powerful). But, when fighting him, Dracula has no power to transform by himself -- which causes him to pull a Soul Steal on Death to gain the edge necessary for his transformation into True Dracula ("My power! Use my power!" use my power for what, if not to transform?).

Why couldn't he transform by himself? The answer is: His power was not enough to BOTH transform and restore the castle's power. A battle after he has JUST resurrected means that he either has power to transform or power up the castle, not both at the same time. Dracula may be connected to a virtually infinite power source, doesn't mean this connection is an "infinitely large door" -- otherwise he would be impossible to destroy.

And then we go back to the "who is he asking to grant him power?", and the answer would be "the castle". Exactly like Richter verbally demands minions to appear, or Soma verbally demands it to return everyone to the real world. When he says "Grant me power!", it appears to me that he's drawing power from the castle to achieve a transformation, and this is the reason why he couldn't transform in PoR by drawing power from the castle: It's operating at low power and NEEDS that power to stay put. If the castle has no power left, it's physical form crumbles and it returns to the spiritual plane. And seeing as Dracula has to absorb a GOD to transform, god knows how much power a transformation would suck from the castle.

And then, Brauner. If Dracula can ask the castle to grant him power to become a monstrosity, Brauner -- as master of the castle like Richter or Graham -- can ask this power to be infused on his painting and make THE PAINTING into a monstrosity. But he's no Dracula, he's not the owner of the castle, and he's no Demon King, leading to me to think this might be why this is taking so long to accomplish (on top of we knowing it takes a really long time for a seasoned, classical artist to finish a masterpiece).

EDIT: Spoiler tags because wall of text.

[DraculaCronqvist]

As mentioned previously, Brauner uses his inherent magic, his paintings, to redirect and syphon off the power off the castle, redirecting it into his grand masterwork he wants to unleash upon the world. By blocking the throne room, he drew the power used to resurrect Dracula into his painting. Thus, when the painting was destroyed, all the released energy accumulated through WWII resurrected Dracula immediately. However, his usurping of the Castle was evidently only that. He didn't become its true master, as he could not shape the castle to his will like Dracula can.

As for what the masterwork Brauner planned... Maybe he painted the entire world ruined and the accumulation of enough power would have made it so? Or he would have painted a giant creature filled with the power he syphoned off? The picture was nowhere near enough completion to really guess, nor do we know if his plan would have actually succeeded. After all, his other paintings did not syphon off power from the Castle but just blocked the flow of energy to the throne room and his masterwork. We never really saw him make active use of the power of the Demon Castle on such a grand scale.

[X]

His end of the world painting looked like a picaso

[DraculaCronqvist]

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He's not using paintingS. He's using A painting to do it: The Studio Painting. Jonathan does say he is using paintingS to make the castle's power his, but Charlotte later elaborates how, saying they are "a series of walls that surround the magic controlling Dracula's Castle. The painting itself is just the outermost wall".

It is impossible to reach the Studio Painting without destroying every single painting before it. They are like firewalls protecting the actual painting used to accomplish this feat. This painting is cutting off the Throne from the castle.

During SotN we learn Shaft-possessed Richter is the master of the castle. He has access to the throne and Shaft says that Richter being the strongest vampire hunter ensures that he can destroy anyone trying to screw with his plan. On top of this, we see Richter exert this masterhood to order demons to appear and kill Alucard.

During Aria we learn that whoever makes it to the throne first, controls the castle. Graham ends up making it to the throne first, thus he becomes the castle's master. On the average ending, Soma defeats Graham, and then Arikado explains he's therefore the new master. Soma orders the castle to return them to reality, and the castle obeys, but at this point we have already seen Graham manipulate the castle's power and explain he could have ordered the same thing easily with "his newfound powers".

During Dawn we learn "having inherited Dracula's powers" is useless to becoming Demon King, which explains the above: Graham became the master of the castle because he reached the throne first, not because he had Dracula's powers. He was no Demon King, but still could order the castle to obey -- same as Soma.

These games, together, are explaining that you can make it to the throne and become the castle's master. This grants you the power to order the castle to do what you want. But you still need to be powerful enough to defend it, lest someone comes, defeats you, and becomes the new master.

During PoR: There is no throne to "make it to", because Brauner separated it from the castle using the Studio Painting, and created a number of other paintings that must be destroyed first in order to reach this painting. The throne is needed to revive Dracula, which could explain why Brauner separated it in the first place: While one can make it to the throne and become the castle's master when Dracula is not there, this doesn't ensure Dracula ISN'T gonna revive and kick your ass out of HIS throne. So, Brauner severed it away with the Studio Painting, and protected the Studio with other paintings to become the castle's master ensuring that, at the same time, there's no risk of Dracula suddenly appearing and ruining the plan, and that there's no risk of someone else appearing and robbing Brauner of this power. And, sure enough, Death does say this was a clever plan.

Brauner made it to the throne, gained masterhood of the castle, and sealed the throne away, stopping anyone else from becoming the master while stopping Dracula's revival at the same time.

Let's put it this way: Brauner is a hacker. His paintings are a ransomware. Dracula's castle is a computer. Dracula is the computer's owner. The throne is the bios. Jonathan and Charlotte are the antivirus.

When a hacker gains control your computer with a ransomware,  they lock away all of your files and system behind a paywall that is protected by encryption, making it much harder for you to regain control of YOUR machine. He is the current master of the computer, but doesn't mean he's the computer's owner, though. He separated what puts YOU in control of your computer, and what would put anyone else in control of your computer if they physically reached your computer first. Jonathan and Charlotte act as the antivirus, slowly undoing the encryption until the last one is destroyed and the bios is free, at which point you can regain your rightful position as the computer's owner.

Also, interesting to note: The castle is not operating at full power. DRACULA is the only one who can do it. This is confirmed when Brauner is defeated and Dracula is revived, with Charlotte explaining that he is "restoring the castle's power". This also means that Brauner is pretty much vampirizing Dracula's castle to finish his painting. He doesn't give a shit for Dracula or his castle.

(click to show/hide)

Remember how Dracula, when transforming, verbally says "Grant me power"? Who do you think he's asking for power? When Dracula is defeated, the castle crumbles, right? So, hear me out:

In PoR we learn that Dracula can "restore the castle's power". The longer he is revived, the stronger is the power of the castle (which already is extremelly powerful). But, when fighting him, Dracula has no power to transform by himself -- which causes him to pull a Soul Steal on Death to gain the edge necessary for his transformation into True Dracula ("My power! Use my power!" use my power for what, if not to transform?).

Why couldn't he transform by himself? The answer is: His power was not enough to BOTH transform and restore the castle's power. A battle after he has JUST resurrected means that he either has power to transform or power up the castle, not both at the same time. Dracula may be connected to a virtually infinite power source, doesn't mean this connection is an "infinitely large door" -- otherwise he would be impossible to destroy.

And then we go back to the "who is he asking to grant him power?", and the answer would be "the castle". Exactly like Richter verbally demands minions to appear, or Soma verbally demands it to return everyone to the real world. When he says "Grant me power!", it appears to me that he's drawing power from the castle to achieve a transformation, and this is the reason why he couldn't transform in PoR by drawing power from the castle: It's operating at low power and NEEDS that power to stay put. If the castle has no power left, it's physical form crumbles and it returns to the spiritual plane. And seeing as Dracula has to absorb a GOD to transform, god knows how much power a transformation would suck from the castle.

And then, Brauner. If Dracula can ask the castle to grant him power to become a monstrosity, Brauner -- as master of the castle like Richter or Graham -- can ask this power to be infused on his painting and make THE PAINTING into a monstrosity. But he's no Dracula, he's not the owner of the castle, and he's no Demon King, leading to me to think this might be why this is taking so long to accomplish (on top of we knowing it takes a really long time for a seasoned, classical artist to finish a masterpiece).

EDIT: Spoiler tags because wall of text.

Is Dracula really asking for power, though? Isn't that just the English translation? In the original, he says "Ware ni chikara wo...", if memory serves correctly and that does not imply so much asking as demanding power, if my Japanese doesn't fail me here.

[theplottwist]

Is Dracula really asking for power, though? Isn't that just the English translation? In the original, he says "Ware ni chikara wo...", if memory serves correctly and that does not imply so much asking as demanding power, if my Japanese doesn't fail me here.

Asking, demanding, I don't always hit the nail on the head with English. He is the true master of the castle, so him demanding, ordering, would be more fitting I guess.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Is Dracula really asking for power, though? Isn't that just the English translation? In the original, he says "Ware ni chikara wo...", if memory serves correctly and that does not imply so much asking as demanding power, if my Japanese doesn't fail me here.

Based on my experience with anime, etc. When someone says that line, it implies the translation to be "Power/Strength (come) to me".

[Super Waffle]

I think he was just playing Mario 64 and he thought the idea was cool.

[Lelygax]

He was working in a painting called "Lords of Shadow". He couldn't finish it before dying but someone else found and sold it, destroying their world.

[Nagumo]

Thanks everyone for posting your theories. However, I took a look at the Japanese dialogue of this game, and I must conclude that, once again, the source of all the confusion is the localization. It's because of the localization that we English speaking fans ended up making a lot of wrong assumptions about the story. I realize now that in reality, PoR's story is actually quite simple.  Let me explain.

I've formatted my post so the normal text is the original Japanese, the blue text is my English translation, and the green text is official translation which I've included for comparison purposes.


At the beginning of the game, Charlote says the following:

これだけの魔力を放つ城。私が本で調べた悪魔城以外考えられない
A castle that emits this much magical power. It's unthinkable that this is anything other than the demon castle I've read about in books.
This castle is pulsing with dark magical power. I can't imagine it's anything but the  castle of Lord Dracula that I studied in the books.

This might seem like a throwaway line at first, but this is going to be important later in the story, so let's keep this in mind.

This brings up to the first conversation with Wind:

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Wind: 
それともう一つ話しがある。ここの城主の事だ。
Oh, one more thing... Regarding this castles's lord.

Charlotte:
ドラキュラの事ね。それなら本で…。
You mean Dracula right? I've read books about him.

Wind:
ドラキュラは城主ではない。
Dracula isn't this castle's lord.

Jonathan:
どういう事だ？ここは悪魔城じゃないのか？
What do you mean? That's why they call this "Dracula's Castle".

Wind:
悪魔城である事は間違いない。だが、今この城を支配しているのは、ブローネルと言うヴァンパイアだ。
This without a doubt the demon castle. However, the one who is currently ruling the castle is a vampire called Brauner.
 It is indeed Dracula's Castle. However, the castle's Lord is a vampire by the name of Brauner.

Charlotte:
そんなの聞いた事が無いわ。
I've heard nothing about that!

Wind:
知らなくて当然だ。最近発見されたヴァンパイアだからな。奴は絵に魔力を込めその力を行使する。この城の中に、必ず奴の絵があるはずだ。まずは、それを探せ。
It's because he's a recently discovered vampire. He puts the magical power (of the castle) inside his paintings and wields that power. You will undoubtedly come across  these paintings in this castle. Search for these paintings.
As one would expect. His identity has been kept secret  for years, after all. He infuses magic into paintings to  increase his power. You will undoubtedly come across  these paintings in this castle. Search for these paintings.

Charlotte:
絵を使って、城の魔力を自分のものにしてるって事ね…。でも、ドラキュラじゃないなら、ひとまずは安心よね。
He's using the paintings to make the castle's power  his, isn't he? Still, he isn't Dracula, after all, so  we're safe for now.

The official translation is pretty close but whoever translated seemed to have overlooked that the magical power/magic (魔力) that Wind is talking about is the magical power emitted by Dracula's castle. This line is absolutely crucial to understand what Brauner is doing. His paintings are like sponges that absorb the magical power emitted by Dracula's castle. Because the magic emitted by the castle is stored inside his paintings he is able to use this power for his own purposes.   
 

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Charlotte:
この絵…。すごい魔力…。
This painting... Its power is incredible!

Jonathan:
これが、ウィンドの言ってた絵か…。
Must be one of those paintings...

Charlotte:
間違いないわね。… 分かった。 
Without a doubt. Hm... I've got it!

Jonathan:
な、何が？
Care to share?

Charlotte:
この絵の役割よ。ブローネルは、この絵を使って悪魔城の魔力を制御してるのよ。
This paintings function. Brauner is using is to seize control of the demon castle's magical power. 
This paintings function. Brauner is using it to control the power of this castle! *

Jonathan:
なら、早いとこぶっ壊そうぜ。
Well then, let's hurry up and rip it to shreds!

Charlotte:
無理。やるだけムダよ。私が見た感じ、この絵は呪法強化理論に基づく、擬似空間的多層結界ね。 魔法力学的に言うと…。
Impossible. Anything we do will be pointless. From what I can tell, based on the theory of black magic reinforcement, this picture is a multilayer quantum-space barrier. A kind of paranormal phenomenon.
Impossible. Anything we do will be pointless. From what I can tell, based on the theory of curse  amplification, this picture is a multilayer quantum-space barrier. A kind of paranormal phenomenon. **

Jonathan:
あー、もうちょっと人間の言葉で頼む。
Uh, okay... And what does that mean in human language?

Charlotte:
…。つまり、城を制御する魔力を囲むように何重も壁があると思ったらいいわ。で、絵の部分に当たるのは一番外側のほんの一部。 壊したところで復元するし、まったく意味が無いわ。
...In other words, think of it as a series of walls that surround the magical power which is controlling Dracula's castle. The  painting itself is just the outermost wall. As soon as you break it, it'll regenerate. It's unbreakable.
... In short, think of it as a series of walls that  surround the magic controlling Dracula's Castle. The  painting itself is just the outermost wall. As soon as you break it, it'll regenerate. It's unbreakable. ***

Jonathan:
じゃあ、どうする？
How convenient. So now what?

Charlotte:
私の魔力を同調させて絵の中に入り込むの。そして直接、城を制御する魔力を封じるのがベスト。危険度は高いけどね。I'll align my magic witht he painting's so we can enter it.
That'll be the best way to put a stop to the magic which is controlling the castle.
I'll align my magic witht he painting's so we can enter it. That'll be the best way to circumvent the castle's  magic. the risk is quite high though. ****

Footnotes:

* What Charlotte says here is a conformation of Wind's earlier line about Brauner infusing magical power (which is emitted from Dracula's castle) inside his paintings to make that power his own.
** In my opinion, a more accurate translation would be "black magic reinforcement". In other words, a method which makes it more difficult for a magic spell to be undone my someone else by hiding it behind a series of barriers. (Brauner's paintings).
*** The magic Charlotte is talking about is refering to Brauner's magic, not Dracula's.
**** "封じる" can mean "to seal" but it can be used figuratively to mean "to put an end to something". Just like English, there are tons of verbs in Japanese that are used figuratively. In this case, the usage is clearly meant in a figurative sense because we never see Charlotte and Jonathan actually sealing away any magic.   

After Charlotte and Jonathan defeat Dullahan, there is the following exchange:

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Charlotte:
 ふーっ。今のモンスターが魔力の核だったみたいね。
Phew, that monser just now seemed to be the outer husk of the magic (inside the painting)
Phew, that monster just now seemed to be the core of  the magic energy.* 

Jonathan:
これでブローネルは城の力を使えないわけだな。
Meaning Brauner can't use the castle's power now?**

Charlotte:
いえ、ちょっと違うみたい。確かに城を支配する力は、少しだけ無くなったみたいだけど…。
No, not quite. The power that his controlling this castle has decreased a little bit, but...
No, not quite. His control of the castle's power has  decreased a bit, but...***

Jonathan:
少しだけってどういう事だ？
"Decreased a bit"?

Charlotte:
たぶん、絵はこれ以外に…。
I think there's something else...

Footnotes:

* "核" can mean "core" but that doesn't really explain anything so I think the translator choose the wrong definition here. It can also refer to the pit inside certain fruits which encompasses the seed (hence "outer husk"). That already makes way more sense because the bosses inside these paintings are supposed to act as a last line of defense against anyone who enters the painting in order to destroy the magic contained within. In fact, maybe "last line of defense" would work the best as a translation. 
** Just to be clear, Jonathan is refering to the magical power emitted by Dracula's castle here.
*** This line is refering to how Brauner's magic has decreased a little bit. The official translation made things unnecessarily complicated by translating it as "the power to control the castle".

With the confusion caused by the localization (mostly) out of the way, I can give a short and simple summary of the story:

"Dracula's castle is brought back during WWII by Brauner. However, the only thing he cares about is harvesting the magical power that Dracula's castle emits. He stores away this magical power inside his paintings which allows him to harness that power himself and become more powerful. He wants to use this power to destroy humanity because of what happend to his daughters during WWI.  "

There's still some translation wackiness near the end. Let's take a look in order to wrap this up completely.

Death:
アトリエの絵によって、ドラキュラ様が蘇るべき玉座の間を切り離すとは…。考えたものよ。だが、これで我が主は蘇る。ははははは
Cutting off the throne room where Lord Dracula is expected to revive through means of his atelier painting... A clever plan. Alas, now I can revive Lord Dracula! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
The studio painting was cutting off the throne needed to revive Lord Dracula. A clever plan. Alas, now my lord can be revived!  Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

   

This line was very weirdly translated. The way Death is talking here is that it's common sense that Dracula revives in the Throne Room. However, nowhere is it mentioned the Throne Room is needed to revive Dracula. That's just making things unnecessarily complex. My take on this is that when Brauner revived the castle, he quickly sealed away the Throne Room because he knew Dracula was going to show up there, trapping him there. What I'm not sure of is if Dracula is trapped there from the very beginning of the game or if he revived in there near the end of the game and discovered he was trapped there. Anyway, it's not hard to understand the gist of it. 

One final thing:

Charlotte:
この先から、ものすごい魔力を感じるわ。
I sense terribly powerful magic up ahead.

Jonathan:
ジョナサン
この先に城の力を取り戻したドラキュラがいるって事か。
Up ahead is Dracula who has reclaimed the castle's power.
Meaning Dracula's that way, restoring the castle's  power?
 

This line simply indicates Dracula regained the magical power that Brauner stole from the castle.

This is just my take on the story, of course. I'm not claiming it as absolute gospel or anything. Too bad Koutei isn't here. I'm curious whether or not he concurs with this.     

[theplottwist]

Nagumo's post.

Thank you for bringing this to light!

I have some contentions with specific lines, however, as certain interpretations given by you contradict specific dialogue coming after--some of which were translated by you. More or less like "your translation is contradicting itself".

However, for now, I'll point an unrelated logic inconsistency, not a translation inconsistency:

This line was very weirdly translated. The way Death is talking here is that it's common sense that Dracula revives in the Throne Room. However, nowhere is it mentioned the Throne Room is needed to revive Dracula.

This does not need to be mentioned. If Brauner sealed the Throne Room and this act causes Dracula's revival to not be attainable, that means the Throne Room is necessary for his revival, otherwise Dracula would be revived already.

Also, your own translation just above does say "Now I can revive Lord Dracula", meaning he has not yet revived at all.

This is just my take on the story, of course. I'm not claiming it as absolute gospel or anything.

As much as I don't fully trust your current interpretation, I trust that you're looking to be as close as to the creator as intended, and the intention of the creator IS a clear cut thing. If I can get over the issues I'm having with your interpretation/translation, I'm ready to accept it as a source closer to the truth.

Also, just to be clear: Some sections I agree are mistranslations (such as "Dracula has regained the power of the castle" instead of "Dracula is restoring the power of the castle"), and already am properly revising my own interpretation to fit the correct translation, since now it's proven to be wrong in some parts. My problem is with INTERPRETATION of some lines, and not exactly the translation. When you add a parenthesis with "(of the castle)" inside them, the intention of the line changes and the logic of some lines after it break -- what I am perceiving as the above mentioned contradictions. I've translated the line myself, and the interpretation I get from it within the context of the other lines is still the same as I pointed on my first post: Brauner's own power is infused on his paintings to make them walls protecting the painting manipulating the power of the castle.

This logic appears to be corroborated when you get to the end, and Brauner's Studio Painting is covered in chains (meaning you have to destroy the barriers protecting it -- the other paintings -- before you can access it). When we start talking about every painting having the power of the castle, the chains make very little sense.

But again, thanks for the heads up!

[Nagumo]

This does not need to be mentioned. If Brauner sealed the Throne Room and this act causes Dracula's revival to not be attainable, that means the Throne Room is necessary for his revival, otherwise Dracula would be revived already.

Also, your own translation just above does say "Now I can revive Lord Dracula", meaning he has not yet revived at all.

Yeah, you're right. I'm going to backpedal on that statement. However, I'm still sceptical that the Throne Room is needed to revive Dracula. Are we sure that's the only thing that makes sense? For example, what if Dracula's remains are inside the Throne Room? That could also be reason why Dracula couldn't be revived and it makes sense what we already know. "The Throne Room is neccessary in order to revive Dracula" seems like a completely arbitrary and unneccessary rule to me. Also, then Death's "Now I can revive Lord Dracula"'s line would make sense since he would have access to Dracula's body.     

[theplottwist]

Are we sure that's the only thing that makes sense? For example, what if Dracula's remains are inside the Throne Room? That could also be reason why Dracula couldn't be revived and it makes sense what we already know. "The Throne Room is neccessary in order to revive Dracula" seems like a completely arbitrary and unneccessary rule to me. Also, then Death's "Now I can revive Lord Dracula"'s line would make sense since he would have access to Dracula's body.     

OK, let's assume the remains are inside the Throne Room for a minute, and that's what Death needed: Why would Death say he needed the Throne Room instead of saying he needed Dracula's body/remains/soul contained within the Throne Room? Why is he talking about the ROOM and leaving the most crucial part (in this hypothetical case, Dracula's remains) out of the picture?

That looks like too many leaps of faith for the writers to expect us to make. We don't know if there ARE remains or WHERE they are, and they could be with Death, too, instead of in the Throne Room, right? Though we see Dracula's coffin on the Throne Room, we also see his coffin on the Throne Room on the first Castlevania, and we know FOR A FACT that Dracula was not revived on the Throne Room on the first Castlevania. Ergo, the coffin present on the Throne Room does not mean much, if anything.

May not be the ONLY thing that makes sense, but is the one that (for me, at this moment) requires the less leaps of faith and has more evidence for: The Throne Room is important by itself. Much more important than the rest of the castle.

Death only says the Throne Room is necessary. Again I'll invoke that the entirety of the Castlevania lore is not confined to a single game or line of dialogue -- It's a puzzle:

-HoD first establishes (through Death) that the castle being whole is important for reviving Dracula. The plot reveals that either castle is not really Dracula's castle until they are merged (and the Throne Room in this game does not even have a throne in either version of the castle!).
-Aria establishes that the Throne Room is more important than simply "a room with a throne in it". It's the place that grants lordship over the entire castle and its powers to whoever reaches it.
-The novel establishes that, while the entire castle changes, the Throne Room never does, showing that it does have something special that other parts of the castle do not.

So I don't quite see the problem with the Throne Room being needed to accomplish Dracula's resurrection. I may not know the mechanics behind it, but I imagine that severing away the place where the master is supposed to command from, from the structure that is directly connected to the master's revival cycle (Remember that? Established on pratically all games with actual lore), may have an actual effect on his revival cycle.