To Aru Majutsu no Index III – 11

“British Labyrinth”

「英国迷路」 (Igirisu meiro)

Let me tell you, the royals are already very much loved in the UK (with the exception of Charles). But if they behaved anything like this, I can imagine they’d be even more popular and beloved. Elizard is rambunctious and I personally couldn’t imagine the British queen going around in a tracksuit most of the time, let alone being babysat by a loyal knight. She might look old, but Elizard definitely has the energy and charisma of a younger ruler. Remember, she’s the headliner! Rimea is a bit stiff and she has this seemingly irrational distrust of strangers. Rimea isn’t without her quirks either, seeing how she took the initiative to squeeze her way into Touma’s royal selfie. Carissa, the second princess, evidently has a tyrannical streak running through her. She’s very harsh and domineering. Yet she also has her quirks, demanding that Touma take a selfie with her, and she seems kind enough to her younger sister Villian. Speaking of Villian, isn’t she the little girl who Acqua saved in his flashback, prior to his strategic defection? Anyhow, Villian seems like a nice girl but a bit bland compared to the rest of her family. Actually, it’s somewhat relieving to see an individual who actually reminds me of the real royal family in some way. Seeing a less dignified reimagination of the UK royals has left me somewhat miffed. But I can’t help but begrudgingly admit that this kind of eccentricity is pretty fun, if not outright preferable over the eccentricity of Prince Charles and his other embarrassing antics.

Last episode, we were told that magic from Scotland interfered with Neccessarius’ attempts to prevent the plane hijacking. It is clear that as well as contending with enemies from the outside, Britannia has to worry about enemies from within too. At first, I thought this was another true to life kind of event in the vein of Scottish independence, along the lines of Raildex’s take on Braveheart. It really could have been the case. But no. New Light seem like a bunch of cute mercenary magic girls for hire and their job is to deliver some unknown item through magically interlinked suitcases to a specific person. Not all characters are made equal though, and a good chunk of New Light’s members felt like plot fodder. That is to say utterly tedious. I’m not sure if they suffered from the anime adaptation making specific cuts to maintain the story, but I frankly found them to be boring and irrelevant apart for their purpose as a unit. Initially, I expected them to be some kind of terrorist group trying to teleport a bomb into the heart of London. So the race began to stop them.

The Amakusa Church, Touma and Oriana teamed up to stop these four, so it’s pretty clear we were dealing with something serious here. Yet despite having a saint on their side, they only manage to successfully apprehend two of the girls. The other two manage to avoid being apprehended and make sure that the item was delivered to the right person. Turns out that the item in question was Curtana Original, the coronation sword that holds the powers of Michael, strongest of all angels, thought to have been long lost in the annals of history. And the person who orchestrated the whole debacle? None other than the second princess herself, who has taken matters into her own hand in seeking to depose her mother, in an attempt to forcibly claim the throne. Michael also happens to be the archangel that Fiamma is aligned with. Coincidence?!? I think not.

In a theoretical situation where Elizard kicks the bucket, which princess would be most suited to lead? You’d think this Carissa’s strong leadership would be required in a war. It’s difficult to match the brutal efficiency of a dictatorship. The problem being that the UK isn’t at war yet. So her sudden attempts to usurp her mother with Curtana Original will definitely introduce instability, which entices other nations to meddle in the affairs of a weakened state. Also, I suspect her rise to power was in fact orchestrated by an anti-UK faction (*cough* Fiamma *cough*). The way she doesn’t suspect a thing makes me sigh with exasperation. Given the abundant geopolitics unfolding in the Raildex universe, and seeing various factions conspiring against the UK, that skepticism is definitely the kind of quality I’d look for in a ruler during these sorts of times. However, it’s not like everyone is an enemy and if the UK pushes away its allies, that will result in the exact outcome that the enemies were hoping for. Villian we’ve seen so little of, and despite encompassing virtue, she just seems like a pushover to me. I doubt she’d possess the capacity to lead, so much as be a vassal leader for the powerful figures and entities that serve directly beneath her.

All in all, I doubt that any of these princesses are fit to lead. If I trusted Laura Stuart a bit more, I think she wouldn’t do a terrible job as wartime prime minister. But it’s hard to ascertain her motives and whether they align with British interests. And imagine if Aleister Crowley hadn’t defected from the UK. A segment of London would probably have become Academy City, which would have given the UK heavy leverage in terms of both magical and scientific powers. But alas, for whatever reason Aleister chooses to be an underground ruler over a portion of Japan. To be fair, it’s difficult for his English enemies to interfere with his machinations when he’s on the other side of the world with a literal army of superhuman kids, which would make it easier for him to do what he wants. Anyway, I’m digressing here. The UK seems to be on track for some sudden and very turbulent changes, perhaps a very unfriendly split from Europe and I’d expect it to come out worse for wear (sounds familiar to anyone?).

I think that there are interesting times ahead and I will be excited to see where this series is headed, partly because it’s set in the UK (which is where I’m from), but also because of the heavy geopolitical elements that are actively shaping the story as we go along. I have to say, this really makes the world-building absolutely top-notch in my books. Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading my post and see you next week for some Royal Rumble!

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