Fairies have existed in the imaginations of multiple cultures for time untold. The Scottish term for fairies is Sith, and is pronounced like “shee.” This word means “still” or “silently moving,” which is why fairies are also just called the Still Folk. In episode 8 of Ancient Magus Bride season 2, we will meet two different kinds of Scottish fairies. So, I thought it was fitting to include an introduction about the words behind these creatures. If you watch this anime with the the Japanese audio, you may wonder about the word used for fairies. Yousei (written 妖精) is the Japanese term for fairy. It means “bewitching spirit.” With that knowledge, I hope you enjoy these episode reviews!
Episode 7: Slow and Sure (Part 1)
Episode 7 showed us a peek into the life of Philomela as she was called to her family home by her grandmother. Philomela and her family is subservient to the grandmother’s family – which is also Veronica’s family, the Rickenbackers. We don’t know why Philomela was called back to her home, but it was not a pleasant experience, given that the grandmother is physically abusive and just plain mean. This could explain why Philomela has no self-confidence, relies on taking orders, and distrusts others.
In PE class, Chise’s class practices rock-climbing. The teacher for PE is super cheerful and kind, though I don’t know his name. A few other things happened, such as Alice practicing harder than ever with guns, or Stroud sharing some drinks and discussion with Renfred. The last part of the episode shows Chise and her class going camping in Scotland to practice survival skills. On a final note, something sinister was lurking all throughout the episode. It was watching the young campers from the bushes. Mysterious indeed.
This episode was interesting for the character interactions, but compared to some episodes, it was borderline dull. Not a lot actually happened. Season 2 in general is less action-oriented than we saw in season 1. There are also a lot more characters than in the first season, making the drama aspect much more complex. I don’t have any issue with that, but it may be a turn-off for some viewers.
The glimpse into Philomela’s life was illuminating, but there still wasn’t enough information to satisfy me. I want to know why her horrible grandmother called her home. It’s possible she’s planning something that will effect the sorcery college and thus the greater plot. I liked all the different talks between the characters, but especially the dialogue with Elias and Stroud. I liked it because of the discussion of memories. In addition, it’s always interesting to me to watch Elias process things. I look forward to the next episode.
Episode 8: Slow and Sure (Part 2)
The camping trip continues. A small part of Elias is with Chise, but it’s incapable of fighting, since Chise wants to practice surviving by herself. Chise familiarizes herself with the local fairies, including a horse-like creature called a Each-Uisg, which carries people into the water and eats them. On the last night of the camping trip, Lucy leaves the tent to relieve herself. She is accosted by a mysterious entity that strips away her magical energy and leaves her unconscious. Luckily, Chise finds Lucy and restores her magic.
Suddenly, another creature appears and attacks Chise. It looks like a gigantic one-eyed centaur, but it’s actually a type of sea-monster called a Nuckelavee. The creature’s weakness is freshwater, so Chise plans to lead it to the nearby lake. Rian, Zoe, and Isaac show up to help. Impressively, Zoe’s hair snakes are easily able to make the Nucklavee freeze. But it’s less impressive when Zoe faints, ending the effect of his eye contact.
Riding on the Each-Uisg with Rian, Chise draws the attention of the monster. The Each-Uisg kicks the Nuckelavee into the water. As it dies, it grabs hold of Chise and tried to drown her. Chise powers up her dragon arm and slices up the Nuckelavee. Then she and Rian get to shore, barely avoiding being eaten by the Each-Uisg. Everyone is now safe, but Chise feels uncomfortable about her own brute strength. Rian had a similar violent experience in the past, though we don’t know the details. He is able to bond a little with Chise because of that. Episode 8 ends here.
Since everything was pretty straightforward, I don’t have very many thoughts to share. I enjoyed the Scottish fantasy folklore in this episode, although I have no clue how to pronounce the names of the creatures. We still don’t know the identity of the creature or person who drained away Lucy’s magic power. I’m interested to find out. Rian was great in this episode, showing courage and quick thinking. When Chise defended herself with her dragon powers, I felt proud of her. At least she didn’t try to sacrifice herself this time.
Speaking of that moment with Chise, I’m curious about something that happened just before she activated her dragon arm. Another Chise, glowing red with black feathers, embraced her from behind and said the line about destroying horrors. I just wonder what part of Chise that was supposed to represent. Was it her survival instinct talking to her, or perhaps something darker? It could be a representation of the dragon’s spirit inside her. Or it could be connected to Cartiphilus’ immortality curse. I’m curious about this, so I hope it gets explained at some point.
Ep 9: Conscience does make Cowards of us all
(Part 1)
After being unconscious for ten days, Lucy finally wakes up. Her brother Seth comes to see her, but Lucy reacts badly to him, since he’d been kicked out of the family for being useless at magic. While Seth talks to the medic, Chise tries to soothe Lucy, who is having a nightmare. When she touches Lucy, Chise sees a vision of dozens of bloody bodies, with a younger version of Lucy kneeling among them. Later in this episode, Elias learned about the tragedy of the Websters, when every single family member was brutally murdered except Lucy and Seth. Nobody knows who did it or why.
Chise worries about the voice she heard in the water when her dragon arm activated. She asks Cartiphilus about it. The immortal boy privately thinks the answer is the curse of the dragon, but he only tells Chise, “The voice came from within you.” Meanwhile, there’s trouble at the college. Someone stole a forbidden book and left only spider silk behind as a clue. (Interestingly, the Websters raised silk spiders before their demise.) The book contains information on how to drain people of their magic power. The director of the college warns all the teachers to be careful.
Not long after this warning, a teacher named Simeon gets attacked by the mysterious entity who has the forbidden book. That night, a bodyguard gets killed by a creature that looks like a werewolf. (I’m not sure if he was Simeon’s bodyguard or someone else I was supposed to know.) Another werewolf joins up, and the two of them prepare to go after their main target. We don’t yet know who they’re after. The episode ends here.
There was a lot of interesting information in this episode for sure. My guess is that someone from the spy sorcerer family (Philomela’s family, the Sargants) killed the Websters and stole their silk spiders. It’s possible they did it by order of the Rickenbackers, since that family usually commands the Sargants. It’s also very possible that the culprit who stole the book is Philomela, bullied into obeying her evil grandmother. It’s sad, because I really like Philomela and I felt good about her brief talk with Chise in this episode. I don’t want this character to be the bad-guy.
As for the werewolves, they are probably also connected to these events somehow. Perhaps they are the ones who killed the Websters, although if so, I don’t know who told them to do it or why. On a different note, I enjoyed meeting Simeon and I genuinely hope he recovers from having his magic drained. As usual, I also enjoyed the little insights we get into Elias’ psychology. In this episode, he learned a bit about the emotion of worry, and was reminded of the concept of friends. I hope he can befriend someone at the college. That’s all for now.
Thank you for reading~
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