Meaning of 一人目はやはり、君になったか。, やはり and か shenanigans


Context: people are being chosen for a task, and the speaker is awaiting the
chosen two.

If this sentence was just:

> 一人目はやはり、君になった。

this would just be "I expected you would be (you would become) the first
person.".

It would also be fine if it was just

> 一人目は、君になったか。

or something similar, then it would mean "Were you chosen (did you become) the
first person." a kinda rhetorical question.

But I'm not sure what combining やはり and か could imply? The only idea I might
have for this is:

> Did they pick you, as the first person, after all?

So he was assuming it might be her, but he is still asking rhetorically if it
is her. Also given that she then answers HOW she was chosen it might imply he
is incredulous? or wants to know more?




I think it's a little simpler than that. Think of it as a statement made
question by adding something like "huh?" at the end, in the sense that all is
conveyed in the statement form that you described:

> 一人目はやはり、君になった。  
>  So the first ended up being you after all.

Therefore, now with か to make it like a question:

> 一人目はやはり、君になったか。  
>  So the first ended up being you after all, huh?

**EDIT:** Thought I should clarify thanks to l'électeur's comment, since I had
the right mindset but didn't finish explaining.

The end result is not a question, but rather a statement of observation. In
the same vein that you're not asking in English about the fact that someone
was picked first, but instead are observing that this is the case. In the end,
the "question" statement actually has the same meaning as my first example, in
the tone of observation, instead of stating a fact:

> 一人目はやはり、君になったか。  
>  So the first ended up being you after all.




I think it's a little simpler than that. Think of it as a statement made
question by adding something like "huh?" at the end, in the sense that all is
conveyed in the statement form that you described:

> 一人目はやはり、君になった。  
>  So the first ended up being you after all.

Therefore, now with か to make it like a question:

> 一人目はやはり、君になったか。  
>  So the first ended up being you after all, huh?

**EDIT:** Thought I should clarify thanks to l'électeur's comment, since I had
the right mindset but didn't finish explaining.

The end result is not a question, but rather a statement of observation. In
the same vein that you're not asking in English about the fact that someone
was picked first, but instead are observing that this is the case. In the end,
the "question" statement actually has the same meaning as my first example, in
the tone of observation, instead of stating a fact:

> 一人目はやはり、君になったか。  
>  So the first ended up being you after all.

