Ascendance of a Bookworm Episode 36

Ascendance of a Bookworm Episode 36

Sylvester, Lord of the Realm

I can’t say I was expecting the twist we got in Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 36. Who could have guessed that Sylvester was actually the Lord of the country? We knew he was a noble, but nothing else hinted at his true role.

Even if you look back at everything we saw of Sylvester before this episode, nothing stands out. I figured that he was an eccentric noble who may be on the same level as Ferdinand. That would be enough to explain why Ferdinand told Myne to deal with his antics.

We now know that Sylvester is the Lord. He’s not a lord. I’m pretty sure a lot of the nobles use the lord honorific. But Sylvester is the Lord among lords. But, his exact role is still a bit unclear. Is he the top person in the entire country? Or is there a king? I don’t remember if there’s a king.

Lord Sylvester and Myne from the anime series Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 36
Lord Sylvester and Myne

Anyway, let’s assume that Sylvester is the top dog. That would mean that those related to him are also quite important. And in this episode, we learn both the High Priest and Ferdinand are members of Sylvester’s family.

The High Priest is Sylvester’s uncle while Ferdinand is Sylvester’s half-brother. Sylvester and Ferdinand have different mothers, with Ferdinand being an illegitimate child. This could somewhat explain why Ferdinand ended up a member of the Church. I know he already said he joined to weed out the corruption. But, both can be true.

Sylvester seems to trust Ferdinand. So, it may have been that Ferdinand was working to weed out the corruption on Sylvester’s behalf. Since Sylvester seems to have known his uncle wasn’t trustworthy, that seems likely. But, I don’t understand how his uncle wouldn’t be a Noble.

Everyone Gets a Death Sentence!

Sylvester turning out to be the Lord was a big shock. But, something that was almost as shocking is how cruel he can actually be. From what we’ve seen of Sylvester up to this point, he seemed very laid-back and friendly. Now we’ve also seen his ruthless side.

The first person Sylvester sentences to death is his uncle, the High Priest. That makes sense. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Count Bindewald gets a death sentence, as well. Though, since he’s a lord of another country, Sylvester may spare him. You know, for diplomatic purposes.

That’s not where the death sentences end, though. Sylvester also sentences everyone who had a part in the High Priest’s plan to death. Of course, that includes all the High Priest’s attendants — even Delia. It doesn’t seem to matter that Delia’s a child or that she didn’t play a willing role in the plot.

Lords Sylvester and Ferdinand from the anime series Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 36
Lords Sylvester and Ferdinand

Now, that’s where Sylvester’s death sentences end. But, Sylvester mentions that he actually planned to dish out further punishments. And some of these punishments were going to be the death penalty. What did these other people whom he decided to spare in the end do? They were inconvenient to him.

While he wasn’t going to kill everyone at the Gilberta Company, he did consider shutting them down. Their only crime would have been that they knew and had relationships with Myne. Still, they would have gotten off easy compared to the next group.

Myne’s own family was on the chopping block. Sylvester tells them that he thought about having them all killed. His reasoning was that they’re a roadblock to his adoption of Myne. And the only reason he decided against killing them was that he figured Myne would go berserk. He was right.

Rozemyne Is Born

As part of Myne’s adoption, she’s no longer allowed to see her old family and will also receive a new name. Hearing that Myne was going to get a new name had me worried. I thought it might be something completely different. But, that’s not the case, which is nice.

Myne’s new name is Rozemyne. So, I’d argue that we can keep referring to her as Myne. After all, what is Myne if not a nickname for Rozemyne? To be honest, though, I’m not yet sure what I’ll refer to her as in the future.

The best way to go about it might be to use both names. I could call her Myne when discussing her before her adoption by Sylvester. And I could call her Rozemyne when discussing her after her adoption. But, what’s more likely is that I’ll continue to call her Myne.

Rozemyne in a carriage from the anime series Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 36
Rozemyne in a carriage

Something interesting we learn about Rozemyne is that she has an official state job now. Her printing business is no longer all about creating books for herself and others to read. Sylvester has big plans for Myne’s printing business. And while his plans don’t align with Myne’s, they’re not adversarial either.

As Ferdinand says, Sylvester wants his domain to be the capital of the printing industry. So, it seems clear that Sylvester sees the economic benefits of printing. And he wants to use Myne’s business to bring money and jobs into the country.

Again, that doesn’t go against Myne’s goals. But, it could mean that she has less freedom when it comes to what she gets to print. Or, Sylvester could defer to Myne’s expert opinion on those sorts of matters. In reality, there will be some sort of middle ground — like when Myne printed the scriptures.

Conclusion

What do you think of Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 Episode 36? Did you expect Sylvester to be the Lord? Were you surprised by how liberally he handed out death sentences? And how do you feel about Myne’s new name? Let me know in the comments.

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