It’s time for the last three episodes of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2!
Episode 10: Conscience Does Make Cowards of Us All (Part 2)
Since so much happened in this episode, I’ll have to skip over some details to keep the recap brief. Elias gives some of his magic to Simeon so he can recover. The man who was attacked by the wolves in the previous episode survived thanks to Miss Marielle, who later comes to take a look at Simeon. She says that whoever drained his power was using the forbidden book. Also, there is a curse on him continuing to drain his magic.
Meanwhile, Chise is with Seth and Lucy when they are attacked by the humanoid wolves. There’s some good action with fighting and chasing, before Chise takes Lucy into the secret passage to escape. The wolves follow, but are brutally attacked by the hounds for not having a contract to pass. Chise takes pity on the wolves after realizing they are a mated pair who have a child somewhere. One of the wolves is allowed to escape, and Chise promises to bring payment for the hounds later.
According to Lucy’s memories, the two wolves were the ones who murdered her family and took the spiders. But the motive for the tragedy is still unknown. Lucy thinks she might be able to figure it out. At the end of the episode, we see Philomela’s grandmother receiving a message from a bird. She then mutters, “We have a pest. That’s all the fun we can allow her to have.” I’m not exactly sure what this implies. To be continued.
I absolutely love wolves and wolfish creatures in fiction, so it was a pleasure to see the cool designs of the wolves in this episode. That being said, it’s annoying that wolves are the bad-guys in fiction 90% of the time. I would love to see more good or nuetral wolf characters. Anyway, I’m glad Chise let the female wolf live. I’m curious about her child and I have a feeling that’s going to be important at some point.
As far as the ending is concerned, I think the old lady’s words are big clues to the plot that’s been going on. My guess is that she’s the one behind the Webster Tragedy and the stealing of the forbidden book. The pest she mentioned could be Chise, who has prevented the evil schemes from progressing at several points. I’m not going to speculate much more than that. I’ll just keep watching to see the answers.
Episode 11: A Small Leak will Sink a Great Ship
(Part 1)
Lucy is unconscious again, with the spell from the forbidden book still sapping her magic power. Chise temporarily moves in to the College to be closer to Lucy and impart enough magic to keep her conscious. Although Chise wants to help figure out the problem, Elias and the other adults tell her to stay out of it. Later that day, Chise attends a class about Runes and learns about the rune for thorns which can be used in sorcery.
Before long, Lucy wakes up to a visit from Zoe, who allows her to pet the snakes in his hair. As someone who used to keep spiders, Lucy loves animals that most people fear. The next day is Halloween. Lucy is supposed to go to the mysterious underground waste tower to collect herbs and gems. She’s doing it for the money. But Chise, Zoe, and the other friends make Lucy stay behind since she is unwell. They go in her place, not realizing exactly how dangerous this mission might be.
Once they arrive at the gate to the waste tower, the students see the teacher who is supposed to accompany them. His name is Fabio. Philomela is also there for work. She tells Chise to watch out for Fabio as the gate opens and the dangerous adventure begins. Meanwhile, the headmaster of the College opens a letter that reveals that Philomela will be withdrawing from the College. To be continued.
My favorite part of this episode was when Lucy got to see and touch the snakes in Zoe’s hair. I’m fond of snakes, although spiders are a bit much for me personally. Zoe is absolutely precious. When I see him I just want to love and protect him like a mother.
Aside from Zoe and his adorableness, this episode had a lot of other interesting stuff in it, too. For instance, it was neat to learn about the Runes. The setup for the adventure in the underground waste tower was also well done. Finally, I enjoyed the serious conversation between Chise and the centaur. There was some good character psychology and interesting dialogue there. That’s all for episode 11.
Episode 12: A Small Leak will Sink a Great Ship
(Part 2)
Things are dangerous for the students in the underground waste tower. Everyone splits up into groups, but Chise and Zoe get separated and are alone. Zoe is accosted by a birdlike demi-human who claims to be a sorcerer. Defending himself, Zoe uses his Gorgon power to freeze the enemy, and then runs to safety. Meanwhile, Alice continues trying to convince Renfred that she’s going to become his protector. She gets increasingly frustrated as he shuts her down and calls her a child.
Chise finds herself alone with the instructor, Fabio. He reveals that he’s not the real instructor, but a demi-human sorcerer bound to the tower. He says he wants Chise for himself and that she should leave Elias. When Fabio tries to grab Chise, Cartaphilus defends her from within, startling the sorcerer. Chise, now herself again, asserts that she will never leave Elias. Fabio backs off. While that was happening, Lucy was finally able to open up to her brother Seth, and the siblings are now on good terms again.
The real instructor arrives and takes all the students back to safety. In the courtyard, the teenagers are all surprised to see a messenger owl arrive, speaking with the voice of Philomela’s grandmother. It seems that she is the one trying to force Philomela to withdraw from the College right away. The principle of the school, Liza, announces that the College will be sealed off with magic. Nobody can come or go until they figure out who has been attacking people. The cat spirits of the College then quickly kill the owl as a “f*ck you” to Philomela’s cruel grandmother.
That’s how the last episode ends, and it’s an unsatisfying conclusion. Fortunately, that was only part 1 of season 2. The second half of season 2 will begin airing in Fall 2023. Anyway, besides finding this ending a little abrupt, I’m fairly happy with how things are going in this season. I’m anxious to find out who the real culprit is behind the Webster Tragedy, the theft of the forbidden book, and the attacks on Lucy and Simeon. I will be eagerly waiting for season 2 part 2.
As for specific thoughts on this episode, my main reaction was surprise that Cartaphilus asserted himself through Chise. That’s the first time the curse has been so direct. I’m worried that Cartaphilus and the Dragon’s curses are going to overwhelm Chise. Additionally, this episode made me curious about Isaac and Rian, who have apparently killed before. Interestingly, Chise also qualifies as having killed someone now, since she destroyed the one-eyed monster earlier in the season.
On a final note, the old principle Liza was really bad-ass. I love her and the cat spirits, too. That’s all for today. Hopefully, I will get around to writing a review for this season in the near future.
Thanks for reading~
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