Ancient Magus Bride: Season 2 – Episode 24 Review [Season Review]

There’s never been anything more beautiful.

The twenty-fourth and final episode of the Ancient Magus Bride Season 2 has aired! In the wake of the arrival of a foreign god, Philomela has taken on the burden of sending it away. But will the price she pays be too great? Or will her saga finally have a happy ending?

Let’s go over the details of it all in a Recap and Review.

Recap

The episode opens with the Old Hag’s body falling out of the monster as the others silently encourage Philomela to begin her spell to send the foreign god away. Elias notes that the reaction was different than when he read it and questions if it was meant to be used by Humans alone. However, as she begins the spell, the Old Hag reaches out and the book itself sprouts tentacles that swallow her mind up.

It drags her into an empty void where her grandmother tries to break her mind. However, Philomela clutches the protective charm that Chise gave her, recalling the kindness and encouragement everyone conveyed to her. She states the rune has more than one meaning, and in this case, she uses it as Thor’s Hammer to call down lightning and shatter the trap to free herself.

Then she has everyone grab onto her and funnel their magic power into the book as she recites the spell. The act calls forth another being, which Morrigan states was attracted to Chise. Said being is another eldritch entity that Elias prevents Chise from looking at directly as it takes the foreign god away. We then cut to the College where we see that everyone is starting to wake up from having their magic power drained after Philomela lost control.

Once the false god has been banished, Lucy and Issac are on the verge of passing out while Morrigan compliments Philomela on her spell. Since she got to experience battle for the first time in ages, she won’t demand additional compensation aside from what Chise promised her. Then she departs.

Philomela goes over to the bird that served as Alcyone’s core only for it to turn to dust in her hands. She can only weep while Elias looks on contemplatively at the loss. Meanwhile, the Hex born from Adam’s hatred goes to see that the Old Hag is dying. She asks why Adam didn’t just kill her if he hated her so much, but the Hex throws it back at her that she could have just killed Philomela if she hated her so much as well.

The Old Hag looks at Philomela and sees her as her younger self, but states she thought she could make some use of her. The Hex says that she was pathetic for acting so strong that she couldn’t let anyone get close to her, and as a result, no one came to aid her. With her dying, the Hex fades away and says goodbye to his creator’s daughter.

Then Philomela goes over to her grandmother to ask why she attacked the Webster Family since she needs to explain it to Lucy. The Old Hag states the fewer who know the better, right before her head gets immediately cut off by the Wolf Cub while Zaccheroni chases it down with his familiars while carrying Zoey. Then the cub grabs the grimoire
and tries to run, leaving Chise to send Ruth after it along with one of his familiars.

The Mother Werewolf tears the familiar apart and chokeslams Ruth, which hurts Chise from the feedback due to tying their souls together. She then goes after her child while Philomela passes out from exhausting herself. Since everyone is tired, Elias opts to take them all back to his place and leaves Zaccheroni to retrieve the book.

Philomela wakes in Chise’s home in bed with Issac and Lucy before heading down the stairs, where the Silver Lady takes her aside and dresses her before sending her out to find Chise gathering Mistletoe. She explained that they took them to her home and, while the investigation is ongoing and it’s winter break, they are allowed to stay here. Chise then asks her if there’s anything that she wants to do during the break.

Philomela asks if she has any plans, which Chise states she does with decorating the tree, shopping for the New Year, and trying some crackers while making time for the Silver Lady. Philomela wants to make Potpourri with Chise, which causes her to smile. At that same time, Rian arrives with Torrey and tells Philomela that he’s glad she’s safe when Elias appears with the Yule Twins, who tells her that Mother Winter awaits her at the top of the hill.

Elias has Torrey take Rian and Philomela back to his home while they head to see the Winter Goddess. Along the way we see the mount turn into a baby white bear that guides them to where she has begun to wither and offers the Mistletoe. She then turns into the Daughter Spring and thanks her for offering the gift to her mother and hopes her next season will be a bright one before departing. Ruth states she got lucky she wasn’t asked for something like the heads of a hundred warriors or anything else, and Elias states she needs to learn to say no before harvesting some of the Snowdrops left behind.

Back at their home, Philomela and Chise prepare to start making Potpourri. We get a montage of them enjoying themselves before cutting to someone speaking to the Wolf Cub through a magic mirror. It turns out to be Veronica back in the College, showing she was the one whose familiar it was and stole the grimoire.

Then we see Chise go to visit Joseph and sit next to him, and so he asks what it was that she sacrificed this time. Chise states she did what she could, but a lot of people died and she told herself it had to be done. He states she learned to put herself first.

The credits roll as Philomela remains indecisive until Lucy tells her she doesn’t need to choose just one thing and they have plenty of time. Then Issac spills them and we see that she falls down and ends up covered in them, which makes her finally laugh. The sight makes the rest of the kids smile as the episode and season ends…

And then we get a preview of what will be the next arc in the manga called the “Fiendbane”, where Lindel tells them that he can’t be their ally…

Review

HHHRRRRNGGGHHHH!! MY HEART!

That precious smile at the end was so beautiful that my black heart was about to explode. Bless this beautiful series, which has just started its next arc in the manga right after this episode aired. They knew what they were doing and I suspect many will be eager to read it. Well-played.

Anyway, let’s break down this final episode bit by bit.

Philomela began the ritual to banish the false god when her grandmother tried to mind-whammy her into stopping. However, thanks to everyone else and the protective charm she swallowed, she escaped and finished the ritual. That called another foreign god who trailed Chise’s scent to grab the tentacle monster and take it with her.

Only in this series!

That done, they try to get answers from the Old Hag since she’s dying, but she gets silenced by the Wolf Cub who steals the grimoire with both Zaccheroni and the Mother Werewolf chasing after it. And by the end of the episode, we see that not only did it get away, but it was serving under Veronica. She had something to do with all of this in the end, even if it’s not clear how deeply her involvement was.

With the crisis over, they then return to Chise’s home. There they just get to be kids again and celebrate the winter holidays. Philomela, surrounded by people who care about her and happy, smiles beautifully as a result.

However, it came at a cost. Chise had to go to Joseph to let out those feelings, as there were a lot of deaths this time, and she knew that was on her. He simply states that it means that she learned to put herself first. 

Chise also paid back her debt to Mother Winter, keeping the promise she made. The others point out that she got lucky that the demands were reasonable, and considering we’ve seen what she can do when given a name, they’re completely correct. She even pulled in a second god to get the first one, and if she made eye contact she’d probably have that one involved as well. Being beloved is both a blessing and a curse, but we’ve known that since the first season.

Needless to say, I loved this episode as it stuck the landing while being both beautiful and satisfying.

Season Review

I’ve made no bones that I loved this series and this season. Not only did it introduce a new slew of characters, many of whom I love, but we got to see how the other side of the supernatural works. The College and Wizards/Sorcerers being so technologically advanced contrasts how Magi are so traditional, yet they’re all beautiful in some aspects and horrifying in others.

Chise has truly grown, considering the costs of what it means to save someone else without harming herself. She accomplished what she set out to learn by attending the College, learning more so that she wouldn’t need to sacrifice her body in the process. And while the blood price for that was high, and she’ll have to live with it, she got to protect the ones closest to her.

I do wish there were more of the old recurring characters, and they did skip a lot of relevant information revolving around them. Father Simon’s entire backstory, along with his role in the upcoming arc, for example. But I understand why they did it since there just wasn’t enough time, and Ipostedt those changes to fill in the gap.

Speaking of which….

Changes from Manga

This episode covers the rest of Chapter 92 to Chapter 95, finishing the arc in the manga before the hiatus:

• When Philomela got dragged into the book’s mindscape, it showed more memories of her past, such as being bullied because she was chosen as Veronica’s attendant, and the grandmother attempting to lull her into going into an everlasting sleep.
• Philomela questions why she even cared about losing Adam as, given her personality, she seemed like it wouldn’t faze her. That causes the Old Hag to get angry and refer to her as the child of that woman who stole her only son. That helps Philomela understand her a little more but she keeps her decision to banish her.
• The thing that came from the gateway was not of this world. Elias immediately blocked Chise’s vision because meeting its gaze would result in another pact, which she didn’t need.
• When Veronica wakes up she thinks that someone managed to get “it” to work successfully.
• The Hex questions what the Old Hag would have done even if she brought him back since Adam hated her enough to kill himself. It questions if she planned to tamper with his mind until he obeyed her.
• She asks why the Hex chooses to linger since it didn’t intend to follow through with killing her. The Hex likewise questions why she treated Philomela how she did as the child of the woman she hated. Adam wished she would have let her go, but she kept her here while refusing to do anything and then taking away her guardian’s role. There had to have been other ways to handle things. The Hex then asks if she was intended to be a substitute for Adam, which the Old Hag admits that she had been hoping would be the case at the time.
• The Old Hag tells Philomela not to offer her any final words, as things like that tend to become curses aimed at the person. Instead, Philomela points out that she doesn’t know how the Old Hag stole the grimoire from the Academy as the security was too strong for her to do it, meaning someone else helped her. The Mother Werewolf was getting ready to kill her at that point but the Wolf Cub killed the Old Hag before she could, at which point Zaccheroni showed up.
• The Silver Lady gave Philomela coffee or tea and used magic without words or gestures, leaving her shocked while she questioned if she was an artificial spirit or something else. Then she sent her out to follow Chise and Ruth’s footsteps.
• Elias brought them to his home in his shadow and sent a messenger bird to the College to tell them what happened.
• The College actually sent Narcisse and Wachmann to the scene of the massacre caused by Morrigan along with a team to handle the clean-up and concealment. They note Morrigan’s battle madness stopped the humans from going on the defensive or fleeing a fight they couldn’t win.
• Wachmann actually considers Fabio akin to a younger brother despite how sternly she is when in public, bantering about how he failed because he didn’t get the book and he’d have to take on more assignments to make up for it.
• Then Narcisse begins a necromancy ritual to call forth the Old Hag’s spirit, decorating her corpse and tending to it carefully as, regardless of what she did in life, there are no more paths ahead for the dead. He was taught that you can’t hurl stones or draw the whip on those who have completed their journey in any manner, as he is one of those chosen who desire to hear what the dead have to say.
• Torrey, Philomela, and Rian were stunned when the Yule Twins arrived because interacting with fae and spirits who aren’t hostile to them is such a rare occurrence. Philomela states that’s because usually when they meet, the Wizards try to destroy or purge them with an exorcism. Elias states that they aren’t on good terms with all of them since a number have tried to eat Chise.
• Rian, while looking at Philomela, briefly recalls how she said she had always hated him. While Philomela looks over to her side and briefly envisions Alcyone being there only for it to be empty. He then invited her to come back to the house since she was cold.
• Chise asks if Elias has any stories where he regrets the choices he made or failed. He admits he does have some and he’d tell her as much as she’d like when the chance arises.
• We actually get to see Stella, who is complaining to Ashen Eyes that since her grandmother was hospitalized they were staying home this year for Christmas. Ashen Eyes, meanwhile steals a cookie and states that things have been interesting these past few days the dragon that slumbers at the depths of the isles has stirred.
• We also get to see Lindel and Adolf. One of the dragons allows Adolf to babysit his egg because it missed him so much, with Lindel noting that fewer of them are hatching each year. But as they discuss that and prepare stew to eat, Rahab shows up as they are pulled to her cabin covered in mist like Chise was.
• Narcisse reports to the Principal that he concluded the seance but didn’t get any information. He states that a spirit is a shadow of the departed that contains their soul and memories, so while they could convince her to talk, it was difficult and would take both time and psychotherapy. However, the ritual she performed damaged her soul and spirit, leaving her vile enough that reaffirming her existence runs the risk of turning her into an evil spirit or demon that would be bound to this realm. He decided that it would be more merciful to let her fade away instead of doing so.
• The Principal doesn’t think Zaccheroni took the grimoire and Narcisse suspects that someone else was after the grimoire all along and wonders if the original owner came to reclaim it so the Academy didn’t take possession of it. But ultimately, he dropped the topic since his role was done for now.
• Elias was making his usual Teddy Bears for Angelica, but this time he decided to make a Scapegoat Doll that could transfer small wounds to it instead of the owner. It would only work once and not against illnesses, but that was interesting enough that Lucy and Rian wanted to learn. Elias would have to put the finishing touches on it since he doesn’t know their processes very well though.
• Chise talks to Elias about him getting a gift for Father Simon, as the topic of them being friends comes up. Elias admits that his being seen as friendly could lead to the Church opening up another audit against him, but he agrees to do so.
• When Elias goes to ask him if there’s anything he would like, he states there’s nothing he really wanted but he would like more of the medicine. He also admits that he realized that Simon is most likely someone he treats as a friend as well without realizing it until now.
• We also see the Japanese kid who Simon sent to get “reprogrammed” staying at his house, who he tells that Chise is around the same age as him.
• Joseph gloats a bit about what Chise did, stating that it’s times like these that make sweets taste sweet. He explains that even if she didn’t want to hurt them, the dead will bear a grudge against you for eternity since you caused their deaths. She always harmed herself instead of others, even though she knew she could hurt other people and chose not to until now.
• He also revealed he saw everything because his eye was still in her head, and tells her that she won the coin toss as this time she came out on top while her enemies were crushed. But he also warns her that the time will come where the coin lands in the enemy’s favor and she’ll be crushed, and then she’ll be reduced to crawling on her hands and knees like him. 
• Chise tells him that when that time comes, she’ll picture his face and that would make it so she couldn’t bring herself to lie down and give up.