The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 14 Review

Philomela the Failure

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 14 has the same, dumb title as Episode 13. But, the stupidity of this title translation has nothing on the next episode. I honestly don’t even know what the next episode’s title is trying to say.

But, I’m not bringing up the title to go on a rant this week. Instead, I want to pose the question, “What’s the title referring to?” This isn’t a rhetorical question. I actually don’t know what the title “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained” refers to. Did any character venture to do something in these past two episodes?

I suppose you could argue that Philomela pushed herself during the mandatory class. But, that doesn’t seem to fit the saying. I’m also not sure who translated the title into English. Was it someone working for Crunchyroll? Or does this poorly translated title come from Japan?

If it’s the latter, that might explain some of my confusion. Whoever chose the title (it could be the original author, I don’t know) might not have understood the saying. But, at the very least, it seems like it’s supposed to be referring to Philomela in some way.

Now, speaking of Philomela, we learned a bit more about her in this episode. We’ve known that her “grandmother” views her as a failure. But, we didn’t know why that was, until now. There’s more to Philomela being a failure than her being shy. Apparently, she has a hard time killing things.

If Philomela was a normal person, that wouldn’t matter. Even if she was a normal sorcerer or mage, it might not matter. But, Philomela comes from a family of assassins. So, not being able to kill things is a big deal. However, we know Philomela has killed someone thanks to Zaccheroni.

The “Useless” Familiar

As you’d expect, the principal and vice principal of the college are suspicious of Alcyone. They don’t trust Philomela’s grandmother. And they don’t trust Alcyone, by association, either. However, the vice principal doesn’t believe Alcyone poses much of a threat, if any.

According to him, she can’t do much more than keep an eye on Philomela. But, are we going to find out that Alcyone is actually dangerous? My guess is both yes and no. And, let me start with the “no” because that’s easier to explain. Alcyone doesn’t pose a physical threat to anyone

If the vice principal says she doesn’t seem very strong, I’m inclined to believe him. Also, even if Alcyone was strong, she doesn’t have the personality to do harm. She’s more of a caretaker to Philomela than anything else. And, we saw that she’s already befriending Chise, too.

With that said, Alcyone is dangerous in a sense. She’s dangerous because she’s a way for Philomela’s grandmother to exert control. All it took was one voice recording from her grandmother, and Philomela broke again. When she’s desperate like that, there’s no telling what Philomela might do. And that’s what’s dangerous.

Something to keep in mind, though, is that Alcyone doesn’t realize what’s happened. She doesn’t know that she gave Philomela a message from her grandmother. So, when Philomela starts acting strangely, Alcyone won’t understand why that is.

And, this is where my next prediction comes in. I’m predicting that Philomela will disappear and that Alcyone will go to Chise for help.

I’m also predicting Chise will find Philomela with the Testament of Carnamagos. It might not be in Philomela’s possession; I don’t think she stole it. But, wherever Philomela ends up will be where the person who stole the book is.

Sorcerers and Mages and Witches, Oh My!

Back in Season 2 Episode 2, we learned the difference between sorcerers and mages. What we didn’t learn is how witches fit into this system. And now, we have a pair of witches who are doing some very un-witchlike things.

Marielle and Isaac (not Isaac Fowler) are the two witches in question. And, from my understanding, we’re supposed to already know who they are. I do not. I remember Marielle from earlier in this season when she visited the college. But, I don’t remember her from Season 1. And while Isaac looks familiar, I don’t remember him, either.

Maybe witches were already explained years ago and I’m forgetting that, too. But, let’s pretend they weren’t. What are witches and how are they different from sorcerers and mages? What’s immediately clear is that witches in this series aren’t your typical witches.

Instead, witches seem to specialize in investigating magic crimes. Though, that’s not to say that being a witch is the same as being the magic police. There’s no indication that being a witch is a job title, just like being a mage or sorcerer isn’t. So, what can we infer from this?

Basically, mages must use magic in a different way than those other two categories. And due to the way they use magic, it makes them more suited to investigating. How do they use magic? Based on what we’ve seen, they’re able to read others’ memories and share their own.

I don’t know if they can do more than this. But, we’ve seen Marielle do this at least three times in this season alone. First, she dove into Lucy’s memories and learned of Carnamagos’s involvement. Next, she shared her own memories with Isaac. And finally, she shared her memories with the magic shopkeep to get information.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 14? Why do you think Philomela was at the scene of the Webster Tragedy, as was implied? Do you think Alcyone actually poses a threat? And, what do you think separates witches from mages and sorcerers? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 15 is available now.