The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 12

Sorcerers of the Waste Tower

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 12 wraps up the season. But, that doesn’t mean this is the end of the school arc. There’s still plenty more to happen at the college. So, hopefully, that means we’ll get a Season 3 at some point.

But, enough about the future of the series. Today, I want to go over everything we learned within the waste tower — one of seven towers that makes up the college. This is where all the failed magical experiments get locked away so they can’t cause harm.

However, it turns out there are also sorcerers who call the waste tower their home. In this episode, we met three such sorcerers. There’s Zaccheroni, the man who led the students into the waste tower. And there were two others who confronted Zoe, one of which has the head of a bird.

Exactly why these sorcerers live in the waste tower isn’t clear. It doesn’t seem that it’s because they’re the results of failed experiments. Sure, the guy with the bird head probably looks like that because of an experiment. But, there’s also a teacher whose body turned to slime and he doesn’t live in the waste tower.

There have been a few hints about why these sorcerers live there, though. First, in one of the previous episodes, there was a comment made about those living in the waste tower. Someone mentioned that they were likely the ones behind the Carnamagos incident.

So, it’s clear that the other teachers at the college view those in the waste tower as undesirables. But, Zaccheroni says something interesting in this episode, too. He refers to himself as being “bound to” the waste tower. Is that binding of his own doing? Or is it a punishment?

The Traitor in the College

After what we saw of the waste tower sorcerers, do you think they played a role in the Carnamagos incident? They definitely don’t appear to be good guys. But, I’m pretty sure they aren’t involved with the missing forbidden book.

Based on their interactions with the students, they don’t seem to care about the outside world. Whoever stole the book clearly wants to use it to cause mass chaos. That doesn’t align with what we saw of the waste tower sorcerers. Instead, they’re obsessed with their own experiments.

The two sorcerers who approached Zoe were interested in him because he’s a demi-human. And Zaccheroni wanted Chise because she’s a Sleigh Beggy. None of them expressed any interest in messing with the world beyond the waste tower. Of course, that doesn’t make these sorcerers good people. Though, I wouldn’t say they’re evil, either.

We don’t know much about Zaccheroni. We know he’s a sorcerer with the college and seems to be an instructor of some sort. But, he’s not the instructor in charge of the trip into the waste tower. He hijacked that trip for his own gain. It seems he wanted the plants from the waste tower.

Something else we know about him is that he’s killed someone before. According to him, only those who have killed someone can see the plant he’s trying to harvest. And he was surprised to find that both Chise and Rian could see them.

Of course, he’s familiar with Philomela, so he knows she can see them. And since he was expecting Lucy, that might mean she can see them as well. We know why Chise can see the plants. And Philomela is an assassin, so that makes sense. But, what about Rian and possibly Lucy?

Lockdown Begins

At the end of Episode 12, Principal Quillyn puts the college under lockdown. They need to get to the bottom of what’s happening at the college. And blocking the outside world’s access is one way to simplify their investigation.

They don’t know who stole the Testament of Carnamagos. And they don’t know why that person used the book to attack students and teachers alike. Of course, they’re not even sure if the person who stole the book is even still at the college. But, even so, going into lockdown is the right call.

If the person who stole the book isn’t in the college anymore, then the lockdown will protect the students. That person won’t be able to harm the students if they can’t access the college. Though, if this is the case, that may also make it harder to track this person down.

The other option is that the person who stole the book is still in the college. If that’s the case, their support lines are gone. It’s unlikely that they were acting alone. And now, they don’t have support from those beyond the college’s walls.

My guess is that this second option is the case. So now, it’ll be up to the teachers at the college to track down the culprit. And considering who some of the teachers are, that’s not good for the thief. Not only is Elias, a powerful mage, there. But, the principal is no slouch, either.

At first, I thought Principal Quillyn was suspicious. However, after seeing her confront the head of the Sargeant clan, I changed my mind. She knows what she needs to do to protect the college. And she has the help of the cat-sìths, who are powerful cat spirits.

Conclusion

What do you think of the final episode of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2? What do you think Zaccheroni meant when he said he’s bound to the waste tower? Do you think an inhabitant of the waste tower is the one who stole the forbidden book? And what are your thoughts on Principal Quillyn? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 13 is available now.