The Ancient Magus' Bride Episode 19 Review: Any port in a storm.

Has The Ancient Magus’ Bride been a wonderful ride for you so far? Sure, there have been a lot of angsty and emotional parts, but I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of it yet! This episode makes sure we start thinking of all the possibilities.

Plot

Two dragon hatchlings have been indirectly stolen by Cartaphilus, and so Lindel has asked sorcerers for help. Renfred and his colleagues then reach out to Elias and Chise to aid them in their search. However, just earlier, Chise met a very distressed Cartaphilus in her dream…

Episode Highlights

Sorcerers: Wow! We finally got to meet Renfred’s colleagues, the people from the college who wanted to take in Chise! At first glance, they seemed like ordinary scientists and professors, discussing many things and even joking around with each other! Like, who knew the stern and serious Renfred would be such a light drinker, and a sad drunk at that! Already tipsy with only one and a half shot… No wonder Adolf didn’t want him drinking! However, given that they’re actually sorcerers, I’m sure they’re not people to be messed with! Maybe that’s part of the reason why Lindel asked them to find the dragon whelps, aside from the culprits using Renfred’s teleportation device! Another reason could be because Adolf used to be Lindel’s student, just like Elias! So does that mean Adolf and Elias could be considered siblings?

Communing in a dream: Chise unconsciously used her talent once more, this time bringing her to someone I’m pretty sure she never wanted to see again. However, the Cartaphilus she met there looked very unstable! He was totally different from the one whom they fought against in the past. Could it be that those were Joseph’s inner thoughts? He kept apologizing to someone and even asked Chise to help him, not really something you’d expect from an enemy. Maybe it’s also possible that his kindness and meekness was how he was originally like? Living in pain for a very long time can drive a person to madness, after all. Well, as you can see, this dream painted our bad guy in a new light for me. Even though nothing can erase the terrible things he’s done and is still currently doing. I hope that one day we can find out what else there is to him, and if he deserves salvation. (Actually, didn’t he mention ‘we’? Who’s this we?)

Course of action: I can’t believe mages and sorcerers teamed up for a greater cause! I’m just so amazed at this development because when the series started, it was set up that sorcerers are terrible people. But as we got to know some of them, turns out they can be wonderful allies! And now, they are working together, all thanks to Chise’s selfishness and amazing persuading skills! I agree with Renfred, though – Elias did change. I don’t think the past him would have agreed to it, no matter what anyone said. But now, not only did he join in, but the only reason he didn’t want to in the first place was that he was highly concerned about Chise’s wellbeing! Well, she did almost die before, I’m sure that traumatized him. Then again, he also hurt her when he got possessive of her. I was laughing at how the sorcerer trio misunderstood what she meant!

At the auction house: I didn’t expect to see Seth again, the auctioneer who offered Chise to sell herself! He even gave her a cut of the profits from the sale! If Chise didn’t need to buy back the young dragon from the auction, then she would’ve been actually a millionaire by now! But alas, they didn’t come to the auction for pleasure, but for highly important business. And yet, Renfred and Elias started bickering again! They really don’t get along, do they? But, they were talking about something very crucial, and I’m sure Elias has started thinking of what’s best for Chise deep inside, more so ever since he got jealous. I have to wonder, though, whose appearance did he copy this time? She looks like such a pretty lady!

A mess: I was so nervous for the bidding, thinking their pooled money wouldn’t make it! But there were far worse things, like a stranger secretly talking with Chise for unknown reasons, and the dragon whelp suddenly becoming a huge and dangerous creature! Dang, seeing Chise crying so hard because she felt his feelings, the emotions from seeing his friend being cut up, not knowing what will happen next, then being locked in a cage to be sold for who knows what, that was so, so, so heavy!

Themes & Trivia

Any port in a storm: This proverb means that, in times of trouble, any solution is acceptable, no matter if it’s unappealing.

Dream walking: This is the ability to enter someone else’s dream. Probably Chise used this magic to unconsciously meet Cartaphilus in his dream and talk to him, huh?

Uses of dragons: Wondering why Cartaphilus chose to steal dragons, experiment on one, and sell the other for such a high price? That’s because in mythology, dragon parts are very useful, especially their blood!

Comments

What an episode! It started off a bit lighthearted, then mysterious, and before we knew it, we’re already at the top of the rollercoaster and have started descending down! A lot of it was truly attention-catching, don’t you agree? Especially that part with Joseph! However, my only qualm was also with that part. I’ve actually already caught up with the manga (Don’t worry I won’t spoil!) and, while I understand leaving out dialogue from the other scenes, the details they left out in Joseph and Chise’s exchanges were highly important. It’s not that I didn’t like what we got, but having those certainly would’ve made it all far more intriguing. Well, the staff has done marvelously thus far, so let’s just see how it goes.

Dragon in Distress!

I mentioned that we’re going down the rollercoaster at this point, and from the looks of the preview, we’ll keep going down and down and on a vertical loop, and soon enough we’ll be screaming non-stop for sure!

I hope you share your thoughts on this episode on the comments section, especially since a lot has happened! Also, please do check out our other Winter 2018 reviews!