I can’t, for the life of me, think of a remotely interesting introduction, so I just won’t have one. Here are the episode reviews for the last three episodes of The Ancient Magus Bride season 2. I thoroughly enjoyed them. I’ll try to write a review for this season soon.
Episode 22: Give a thief enough rope and he will hang himself.
During the previous episode, there was a quick shot showing Elias holding up a barely-conscious Alcyone by the neck. That was troubling, because I thought the two got along well, and I didn’t want Alcyone to die. It would have seemed completely out of the blue for Elias to suddenly kill the artificial fairy just to move her out of the way. Fortunately, Episode 22 showed what really happened.
Elias examined Alcyone’s core, an artificial heart made by Adam. Finding that it had been tampered with by Lizbeth, Elias used his thorn power to break the curse that had been keeping Alcyone so limited and helpless. It’s painful to have one’s heart freed from a curse, so Alcyone did almost lose consciousness. But she’s much better off this way in the end. Now, she can truly do everything in her power to help Philomela.
This episode showed us some of Lizbeth’s personal history. It is often the case that monsters begin as victims. But in the case of Lizbeth Sargeant, she was probably always sociopathic. That’s not to say she didn’t struggle or wasn’t put in an unfair position because of her bloodline. But compared to someone like Adam, who developed a conscience and sense of ethics that prompted him to leave his abusive family, Lizbeth never had the same ideological cognitive dissonance.
As she herself admitted, it’s not as if she even wanted a child to love and cherish. Having a child was just a way to assert that she was not inferior to her peers. Although she formed some kind of bond with Adam, she never understood that he was his own person deserving of respect and love, regardless of the results of his work or study. As Adam pointed out in a different flashback, Lizbeth saw her son as an extension of herself. Therefore, he had no agency. She owned him. It was her right to control him.
It doesn’t really matter whether Lizbeth loved Adam in her own way, or whether she lacked the capacity for human empathy. Either way, she was horribly abusive to Philomela. It was always intentional and hateful. Philomela symbolized an inferior version of Adam, created without her permission and outside her control. As we saw toward the end of the episode, the ultimate purpose of keeping Philomela alive was to use her as a sacrifice in the ritual of bringing Adam back from the dead.
The climax of the episode was intense and emotional. I feel like I’ve been watching Philomela for ages, wishing fervently for her to admit she needs help. I’ve said it before, but you can’t help someone who pushes you away. However, in this episode, Philomela finally took hold of Chise’s hand. With her fingers broken stumps and her body falling apart, she reached out and cried for help. It brought me close to tears. Thanks to Philomela’s courage, Chise stopped the sacrificial ritual. Now it’s time for the final battle.
Episode 23: Of two evils, choose the less.
The 23rd episode was packed full of exciting, magical twists and turns, including the return of Morrigan and the appearance of a humanoid curse left behind by Adam. Before we get into that stuff though, I want to talk about Alcyone. It wasn’t surprising, but it was still sad and disappointing when she died. I will miss this really cool character. On the bright side, at least she died feeling fulfilled in a way she hadn’t for many years.
Why exactly did Alcyone have to die? In order to activate the defensive curse Adam left inside her core, she needed to sustain fatal injury. Interestingly enough, she defended the female werewolf to trigger the response, rather than waiting for a time where she could take a blow for Philomela. I thought that was a strange choice, but the effect was the same. Adam’s curse appeared to destroy Lizbeth.
Morrigan’s appearance a few episodes ago felt very random, but also in keeping with the spirit of this anime, which is indeed random in the kind of creatures it presents at what points. Regardless, I was happy Morrigan returned for another fight. She’s so cool and wild. Together with Adam and Ruth, Morrigan fought with the un-named god Lizbeth summoned. (This god, with its tree-like tendrils and huge eyeball, is also the entity that possesses people via the cursed book.)
Though Morrigan’s main powers are straightforward and aggressive, she also has a more subtle ability. People around her are sometimes spontaneously “influenced” by her presence, taking on attitudes or mannerisms that are similar to hers. That’s why Zoe started talking like a god when fighting the werewolf in a previous episode. It’s also why Chise was grinning madly at the carnage in this episode, much to Lucy’s befuddlement.
Despite these cool abilities, Morrigan’s powers are currently limited. She won’t be able to vanquish the enemy god on her own, so Chise and company need to help. Philomela realizes she is still the current user of the cursed book. Elias helps Chise and Philomela recover the book from inside the giant eyeball. Now, Philomela is activating the book once more with the goal of banishing the evil god. Chise, Lucy, and Isaac aid her by supplying magic power. To be continued.
Episode 24: The show must go on
It was impressive when Philomela defended herself against Lizbeth after so many years of abuse. The girl and her grandmother were battling for control of the cursed book, when the old lady manifested within the young girl’s mind to make her feel ashamed and worthless. But it didn’t work. The rune amulet protected Philomela this time. She assertively defended herself, calling down lightning and killing the manifestation of Lizbeth within her. Beautiful.
As for the real Lizbeth, she was killed by a small werewolf who seems to be a surviving child of the female werewolf. The wolf child was someone’s familiar who wanted to silence Lizbeth after she tried to explain why she killed the Webster family. Anyway, the female werewolf now knows that at least one of her pups is alive. This is the closest thing to closure she gets in this season. I’m still sad she suffered so much. I hope she can be reunited with her child in the third season.
In one of the last scenes of the episode, we find out that the little wolf is Veronica’s familiar. This means my first instinct about Veronica being “evil” may have been on the mark after all. It must have been her family, the Rickenbackers, who ordered the mass murder of the Websters. They are now trying to hide the truth of it any cost. In addition, Veronica is now in possession of the cursed book, after making the little wolf steal it for her. There are still many unanswered questions about Veronica and her family.
As the second season draws to a close, some different loose ends get tied off. For instance, Chise brings the mistletoe branch to Morrigan, who completes her cycle of giving birth to her divine daughter. Presumably, Morrigan will no longer bother Chise. A bit later, Chise has an interesting discussion with Joseph, who stays on his own even in the winter. The only one he’ll interact with is Chise when she comes to visit him.
Chise explains that she was forced to call Morrigan’s name, resulting in the deaths of several human guards at Lizbeth’s estate. Though it pains Chise to think she caused anyone’s death, Joseph is glad to hear that she didn’t sacrifice anything of herself this time. In a way, Chise has become more “selfish.” (In my opinion, she just has a survival instinct now, and shouldn’t be blamed for it.) It was an interesting talk.
With the college on winter break, Elias and Chise brought Philomela, Zoe, Lucy, Isaac, and Rian to their home. The students had a lot of fun together. Philomela wanted to make potpourri with Chise, but was having a hard time deciding which fabric pattern to use for the bag. She’s still getting used to having the power to choose.
At one point, Isaac accidentally bumps into Philomela, making her fall into a pile of fabric scraps. As Philomela realizes she’s surrounded by friends, doing something she actually wished to do, she smiles genuinely for the first time in the series. It was a beautiful moment and a great ending.
Thanks for reading~
Anime Rants 