The Ancient Magus' Bride Episode 20 Review: You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

If you haven’t watched this episode of The Ancient Magus’ Bride yet, get ready to say hello to pain! (Also stop reading and watch it first, because I’m going to talk about spoilers.) The melancholic tones of this show just went up to a whole new level!

Plot

Remember the monster featured in the short teaser for the second cour (and shown again during Ashen Eye’s monologue in Episode 13)? I initially thought that was Elias, but surprise! It was really the dragon whelp! While I’m glad my guess wasn’t correct, this situation our protagonists were put into still wasn’t all that good. Chise had the means to stop the dragon’s rampage and she was successful, but it cost her a great deal.

Episode Highlights

Taming the dragon: Chise was so, so brave for desperately wanting to help the dragon! I know it’s mostly because she felt its despair, but wanting to do something and actually doing it are two different things, right? It’s also surprising that Elias was quick to approve of her request, but probably only because he’ll be there with her, and because the whole city might burn down if they don’t do something. However, when it was already time to put the plan in motion, he got burned and blown away, literally! Without any hesitation, though, Chise still moved forward on her own, despite knowing the possible consequences of her action. Thanks to that, nobody else got hurt, except for her. She basically looked dead when Ruth fished her out of the water! Not to mention her hand morphed into something dreadful!

Kindness in trial: I am blown away by this new development in Chise’s struggles, and it just breaks my heart! She started as a girl who didn’t want to live, then eventually learned how to love life and help others. But when she finally came to the point where she actually wanted to keep on living and stay with Elias for a long, long time, she gets a terrible curse that adds to the destruction of her body, leading to her demise! And to think it was because of her selfless act to help another. Fate is very cruel to this child, isn’t it? Yet, her selflessness knows no bounds, as she still worried about others first, and even comforted them when she was the one who needed it the most! At least, another crucial difference between her past and present is that she used to be alone and despised, but now she’s surrounded by many people who love her and want her to live.

Winter talks: Is it just me or is this the first time Elias talked to Chise about her imminent death ever since the fiasco in the Kingdom of Cats? Thinking about it, he never really actively sought a solution to prolong her life, but just prevented her from using her magic and got her healed when her body broke down. That’s probably why seeing the two of them (and Ruth) finally talking about the elephant in the room was so bittersweet, especially since it caused Elias to open up his thoughts on his own! I could really, really feel just how much Chise meant to him, more so when he hugged her so tightly, accepting Mariel’s invitation for his beloved puppy’s sake. Goodbye, my heart!

Mariel: We finally met the mysterious lady who wanted to make a deal with Chise during the auction! I thought she was up to something terribly fishy, but she actually just needed some blood from the dragon. Then again, their deal’s canceled, so why would she still want to help them if it wouldn’t benefit her anymore? Maybe she’s just really nice, maybe she has an ulterior motive, we don’t know. Whichever the case, she helped determine Chise’s endurance, and gave them a chance to find possible solutions to undo the curse, and I say that’s good enough for Elias.

Spy? Goodness gracious, it was actually Chise’s birthday? What a beautiful time to receive the most wonderful news about her death… How sweet it was for Stella to invite her to her birthday party, though, and even encourage her friend to hold her own party next year! If only she knew the circumstances… At least it gave Chise another motivation to live! Then again, it looks like Cartaphilus is interested in her predicament, hearing about it through Stella, who became like his spy! What is he up to this time?

Themes & Trivia

You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs: This proverb means that you have to give up or do unpleasant things to achieve your goal. Pretty sure Chise broke a lot of eggs just to save the dragon whelp.

Atavism: In Biology, atavism is the reappearance of ancestral traits that have been absent in their descendants. Elias explained that the dragon whelp was able to become like the dragons in fairytales, that’s why it was suddenly able to breathe fire.

Witch: I’m sure most of you are familiar with what witches are. They’re usually grouped with other magic practitioners like mages and wizards. Sometimes this is used as the feminine term for them, just like ‘sorceress’ is for ‘sorcerers.’ I wonder how The Ancient Magus’ Bride differentiates Mariel’s kind from Chise’s?

Comments

I can’t help but sigh just thinking about what happened, not because I wasn’t satisfied, but quite the opposite! I was super moved! I’m actually trying hard to comprehend what I want to convey!

The writing of this story has always been superb, but I appreciate it even more now. The theme of life and death has been an underlying tone since the beginning, only slowly creeping up in each episode. And now finally, here we are. Just like with life in general, Chise and Elias are forced to face the music and think about her leaving this world, or prevent it, just when she was enjoying her life. The atmosphere set by the whole episode, specifically the part where our girl was walking around in the snow-covered plains was a really good comparison to how this new ordeal feels like: enjoying a simple walk, meeting people you know, while the fact that you’ll die soon looms over you. It’s all so melancholic, just like how winter feels like.

Do everything to save her!

Seems like the next episode focuses on Elias trying to find ways to save his apprentice and wife! What things will the coven tell them about her state? The line that Mariel mentions at the end of the preview doesn’t sound too good, though.

Feel free to let all your thoughts and feelings explode in the comments section! And maybe even check out our other Winter 2018 reviews as well!!