You better hope you don’t end up with the same wand as Voldemort!
What They Say:
Chise and Selkie climb aboard a dragon’s back to meet Lindel, to have her own mage’s staff made. Frustrated by Chise’s acceptance of her being kept as a pet by Elias, he describes the time he found Elias in the darkness. Meanwhile, Elias, who had stayed at home by himself, receives a letter from a sorcerer’s college.
“Elias, is an odd failure who pretends to be human — but is it because of his master’s words, or because of his distrust for humans, that he stopped communicating about himself? Lindel’s alias, Echoes, refers to the to a song aking to the sound of snowmelt, traveling through the wind, causing the blooming of flowers and the dancing of fairies. The magic of the song turns into a mirror the surface of the water Chise peers into. What does she see beyond the mirror?”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Last time we spent a good deal of time with Chise without Elias by her side for the first really extended period of time in the series, but they were still close to each other and ran into each other several times throughout its course. Now she takes off to the land of dragons without Elias, spending a couple of episodes away from him to progress as a mage, taking the notable step of receiving a wand or staff of her own with the thanks of Elias’s master Lindel. And yet, these episodes end up being about Elias more than any prior episode. But the biggest surprise is that I’m completely pleased with this direction, because this is material we’ve been waiting to see since the series began: the backstory of Elias himself!
Now we don’t instantly learn everything about Elias. He is something less human than any of the other mages we’ve met, yet still something distinctly different from any of the other mystical creatures Chise or any of the other mages have interacted with throughout their lives, and there is some unknown amount of time that passed before meeting Lindel and other mages. Where he came from originally and what happened in that time we still have no idea about, but finally getting this piece of the puzzle is a good start.
As Lindel ruminates on the events that transpired those centuries ago, we get greater insight into his character both as a young apprentice and as the ancient master we had met in a far more casual light previously. He speaks of the mage’s uncertainty in the reason for their collective existence, and their endless search for an answer. The unnamed monster he meets is not as far from the Elias we know as you might expect, but he definitely lacks an understanding of the world and humanity beyond the level that we’re used to. Their interactions as relatively young men learning of each other’s kind for the first time adds a refreshing mutual vulnerability to characters that have seemed nearly omnipotent for most of their time in the spotlight. As one of the protagonists, Elias has had some exceptions, especially lately, but the more we can learn about him before he had settled into this current sense of comfort, the more human he’ll feel, for lack of a better term. On the contrary, going back another generation reveals someone who can still fill that role in this flashback, Lindel’s master Rahab. This series has already had several strong and excellently written women, but seeing one in the position now inhabited by the likes of Lindel and Elias is still a nice touch for equality of power distribution.
As Lindel and Elias work together as mage and apprentice, or senior and junior apprentice perhaps, Lindel analyzes the creature he sees and how close or far he is to a human, ultimately culminating in a near-fatal encounter with a client. The dark side of Elias is revealed more than ever, the prejudices toward his demonic form seeming validated by a brutal display, albeit one for the sake of defending his friend. Elias as Lindel has known him has never been evil or bloodthirsty, but the first bits of introspection we really see from him involve memories and incomprehensible desires that paint an even darker picture of the further past we have still yet to see. It ties into the frightening moments surrounding Elias in recent events, and it teases for that eventual deeper backstory all the more.
Of course, Chise is actually here to get her wand, after all, so we get a good half an episode or so after all the Elias talk, albeit one ultimately concluding with the first interaction between the two protagonists since they separated and Chise learned so much about him. As is often the case with climaxes in this series, it’s accented by a beautiful musical piece courtesy of none other than the song spell caster Lindel. Elias is more troubled than ever, and a more educated Chise may likely have more empathy than ever, even if the matter of her independence still needs serious addressing by the two of these protagonists so deeply lodged in their respective denial.
In Summary:
Chise spends another couple of episodes with Ruth and no Elias, but this time she learns about Elias as Lindel knew him centuries before she was born. It’s a fascinating tale that only scratches the surface of who or what Elias truly is inside and out, but it’s an excellent first step to learning everything we want to know. For now, Chise has made an important step of her own as a mage, and with this new knowledge, their dynamic can grow in more positive ways.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Roku 3, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.