The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 15 Review

Magic Puzzles

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 15 begins with the students taking a break from studying. Violet St. George shows up with a puzzle and challenges the others to solve it. But, this isn’t any old puzzle; it’s a magic puzzle!

What makes the puzzle a magic puzzle, though? Well, the most magical thing about it, to me, is how it multiplied. Originally, there was only one puzzle. But, it didn’t take long for each of the students to have their own. Did Violet clone the puzzle? Does he have a bottomless bag? We don’t know.

Other than that, what makes the puzzle magic is both how it’s locked and solved. The puzzle looks like an ordinary, wooden puzzle. It’s in the shape of an orb and has 4-8 interlocking pieces. But, what’s actually holding the pieces together is a spell.

These puzzles are actually two-player games. And, because of that, they have a lot more replay value than a normal puzzle would. One player sets the spell that locks the puzzle, and the other player has to figure out how to break the spell. So, every time you play, you can lock it with a different spell that requires a different solution.

As a mage, these puzzles weren’t very difficult for Chise. She actually solved her puzzle all at once instead of piece by piece. But, Chise’s way of solving the puzzle was more like a brute force attempt.

Her puzzle had a trap spell embedded in it, and Chise’s “solution” busted right through. All the trap did was dye her hair black for a minute. But, imagine if it was a real trap. Chise would have walked right into it. So, it’s clear that she needs to work on her magic dexterity.

Philomela’s Childhood

This episode might be the first one in which we’ve seen Philomela’s childhood. I think there was a brief flashback earlier in the season showing Rian and Philomela. And Episode 14 implied that Philomela was the child present at the Webster Tragedy. But, those scenes didn’t tell us much.

We now know that Philomela had a pretty normal childhood when she was very young. She was able to go on picnics with her parents (and Alcyone). And she even used to play with Rian, climbing trees and solving magic puzzles.

But, even back then, Philomela’s grandmother viewed her as a failure. She believed that Philomela should be spending her time studying, not playing. Though, I’d argue that solving magic puzzles is a form of studying. It’s magic practice. And isn’t breaking into magic locks something that would benefit an assassin?

It’s unclear how Philomela ended up in her current situation. What happened to her parents? Did they die while on a spy/assassination mission? Or, did Philomela’s grandmother have them killed for disobeying her and the clan? It wouldn’t surprise me if the latter was the case considering what we know about her.

I have a feeling that the wolfkin assassin’s story is supposed to mirror Philomela’s. The Sargeant clan took her children and forced her to become an assassin for them. I could see something similar having been the case for Philomela’s parents. And, maybe the clan killed them after they tried to flee with Philomela.

Anyway, the main conflict in this episode came when Rian got mad at Philomela (again). He doesn’t understand why Philomela’s so different from when they were kids. And, to me, that implies he’s willfully ignorant about her branch of the family. Doesn’t he know what she’s gone through?

Who Can We Trust?

Remember the Testament of Carnamagos? Well, it’s still wreaking havoc on the college. Last week, we learned that the book is still within the college’s premises. And, at the end of the episode, we saw whoever stole the book going after Jasmine St. George as she slept.

Now, Jasmine’s in the infirmary, likely afflicted by the same curse as Lucy. Also, as far as I remember, the only reason Lucy is “okay” is because of Chise’s magic. Lucy has to stay near Chise to keep receiving her magic. And that’s why we see her chase after Chise whenever Chise runs away.

Jasmine isn’t the only student to fall ill in this week’s episode, though. There was another girl early on. And, the final scene of the episode shows many students making their way to the infirmary. So, who do you think stole the book?

My prediction is that Violet St. George is behind it, or at least involved in some way. As far as I know, Violet and Jasmine are roommates. So, Violet would have access to Jasmine as she slept. But, there’s more circumstantial evidence than just that.

Violet’s also not acting how I would expect. His sister’s unwell and in the infirmary. But, he’s talking to Chise about how he’s bored. Shouldn’t he be helping to take care of Jasmine as he said he would? Also, he acknowledged that he has the ability to see ghosts. That could be another hint.

As far as I can tell, most of the sorcerers and mages in training at the college can’t see things. They could see the spirits in their classes. But, I’m not sure they can see spirits all the time the way Chise can. So, Violet’s ability to see ghosts seems important.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 15? Who did you think would be the fastest at solving the magic puzzles? What do you think happened to Philomela’s parents? And, who are you predicting is behind the stolen book incident? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 16 is available now.