Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「十三番」 (Juusanban)
“Thirteen”
Oh boy was this ever a fun week. Zero has certainly been ramping up the suspense of late, but it seems time for some cathartic bloodletting as Thirteen proves himself to be the villain and Zero experiences the first taste of doubt. It might have been an episode with few answers and yet more questions, but Zero has now set itself up for some serious fun and games.
While we now have a better understanding of Thirteen and his current objective, we definitely do not know of his actual plans. The guy wants to recover Zero’s book of doom yes—that much is clear—but I seriously doubt it’s just because of its destructive potential. Thirteen is incredibly shady, making a sly ploy to first separate Albus from Zero, and then literally brainwashing the mercenary to isolate Zero. He is adamant Zero returns to the caves, and frequently promises to bear her burden (i.e. recover the book for her). Plus there’s also the brief moment where Thirteen insinuated the grimoire was his. There’s no doubt for me Thirteen has an ulterior motive, and I would not be surprised if it involves monopolizing Zero’s book for political ends. Thirteen could easily envy Zero’s power after all—the signs are there—and he may fancy himself a better source of order and stability than the church or state. With so many potential ways to take Thirteen’s desires—simple despot, world “saviour”, harbinger of chaos—it’s a total mystery where this villain in the making is going.
Where Thirteen helps stir the pot as well is in elaborating on Zero’s political divisions. We knew of the three witch groups last week, but I found it quite intriguing how culpability extends to all three. The rogue witches are obvious given their actions, but it’s surprising discovering the Sorcerers of Zero create rogue witches, and not only that, but breed resentment through their retaliatory killing. It’s kind of a chicken versus egg scenario, it’s unclear who actually sparked the civil war, but both the church/state and the Sorcerers are responsible for the fallout. As Albus unwillingly discovered this week, his faction is not as morally upright as he wants to believe, particularly given his leader “Him” actually stole the grimoire and killed every cave dweller except Thirteen and Zero. As with Thirteen’s hidden goals, I seriously doubt giving magic to the masses was the sole objective of “Him’s” actions, there’s another desire hiding behind that Promethean reasoning. The answer to that involves finding out who benefits from all the chaos.
With a surprising number of moving parts at play, I’ll be damned if Zero has not captured my attention wholesale. The plot truly thickens as the weeks pass, and now we also have our first true test of Zero’s fluffy relationship. While still shocking, I honestly expect this falling out to end next week. The mercenary cares too much now to let her go that easy—especially given Thirteen’s worm tongue was hallucinogenic—and Zero, once the hurt numbs, will eventually understand why her body pillow had some doubts. The girl is still naïve about things, but there’s too much depth to her friendship—and contract—to have it die that easily. No idea of course how both will end up reconciling, but with Albus’s fate unclear, a certain dog wolf reappearing, and a magic potion tugging at the imagination, you can bet on a wild ride. Who knew you could actually look forward to Mondays.
Preview
 |
 |
 |
I’m willing to wager that the potion’s a lot more complicated than just a run of the mill lethal poison… who knows, maybe Thirteen didn’t actually lie about the potion and instead just didn’t tell the whole truth.
One thing that’s slipped my mind though, if it’s already been talked about, is what value the Grimoire has at this point? Its contents have already been propagated en masse to all the sorcerer factions, so unless the ability to perform sorcery hinges on its existence or there are additional chapters that Zero and “He” haven’t shared with anyone, I’m not sure it matters who has it?
I also think it’s not a poison, too roundabout a scheme for offing the mercenary IMO. Probably is the actual potion, but likely has some secondary “mental” effects given the talk of beastfallen possession.
As for the Grimoire, it definitely has value still. The civil war keeps killing off witches, important because the spells have to be remembered and certain witches have affinity for specific spell groupings. Eventually you might run out of potential teachers for a certain spell if the book is gone. And that’s before touching on the potential for seriously damaging magic within its pages. Until others consider copying Zero’s book, it remains a valuable item.
Maybe the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Some of those spells seem quite mundane, and if you listen to Zero’s motivation in writing them, most of them probably are. Combining all that knowledge may be the key in making an apocalyptic spell or something.
Zero’s the 6th most popularly watched title on Japan’s biggest anime streaming platform!
http://www.anime-now.com/entry/2017/05/15/230003?utm_campaign=ANN
It’s a conundrom
Indeed. Hopefully it gets sorted out
I was thoroughly entertained this week. Also, this show’s cliffhangers are on the cusp of being pure cock tease/evil. Bring on the Monday’s!
Zero definitely gives off a certain aura(good personality/charisma/cuteness/beauty) around her that gives you the urge to protect her even though she seems fine with fending for herself. Her naive sweetness where she created her magic to better the world around her but ended up witnessing others using it for much darker things and her sense of duty to fix things makes her irresistible to keep watching. When she showed up all happy hoping to go to a festival with our fluffy mercenary but ended up walking away with a sense of betrayal, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. I want next week’s episode!
Lol, that has to be the most tension I’ve ever seen at a high class dinner. With Zero just being chill and enjoying her cake…
Forgot the buildup to the cake, Zero was pissed beforehand lol
Also that dinner bell was expertly timed 😛
Thirteen wants to be stronger or overpower Zero, the creator of the Book. Perhaps he thinks inside this Book there is the secret to surpass Zero. Seems like he need the Book for his vengeance raid
or…
this is much simpler then it looks…
“Senpai, please notice me!”….
The selected three screenshots of the preview kinda tells the story on its own. That’s what I am expecting.
Very good episode.
The fight is interesting, because it’s a classic case of what happens if you’re too damn secretive about your feelings.
Zero is hurt, which is fair, but if she had not just kicked Albus to curb, there would have been much less room for doubt. If you lie to people and hide things from them constantly, they’re going to doubt you.