The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 23 Review

Alcyone’s Recordings

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 23 is the second to last episode of the season. Yes, I know the next episode is a “part 1.” But, that doesn’t mean anything. Season 1 ended on a “part 1” episode, as well.

Anyway, onto the episode at hand. This week, Alcyone dies. But, that’s actually a good thing, in a lot of ways. It turns out, Adam implanted a curse within Alcyone that would attempt to kill her destroyer. And, naturally, Adam expected this destroyer would end up being Lizbeth.

So, the first way Alcyone’s death is a positive is that it’s bad for Lizbeth. Though, due to the circumstances, the hex didn’t exactly get to do its job. But, I’ll get to that in the next section. The second way Alcyone’s death is good is arguably more important.

You might remember that Philomela said she couldn’t remember her parents’ faces. She also implied that this wasn’t because it’s been a long time since she’s seen them. And, she implied that it wasn’t due to her trauma. Instead, she says Lizbeth must have deemed those memories unimportant.

So, Lizbeth seems to have erased Philomela’s memories of her parents. And, we know that Philomela’s parents couldn’t keep photographs. That leaves Alcyone’s recordings the only evidence of Philomela’s happy childhood. And, it’s these recordings that Alcyone gives to Philomela as her parting gift.

Alright, but why is this important?

Well, think about how different of a person you’d be if you lost all of your happy memories. That would fundamentally change who you are. Up until this point, Philomela has been living as a shell of herself. Why was she always depressed? All she knew was suffering. That’s no longer the case.

Hex and Goddess

Alright, let’s talk about the hex and the goddess. So, it makes sense that Adam would implant a hex into Alcyone. He specialized in hexes and knew that his mother would try to harm Philomela. And, to harm Philomela, Lizbeth would likely have to go through Alcyone.

Unfortunately, “Carnamagos” got in the way of the hex working and killing Lizbeth. So, the hex and the ancient goddess Morrígan had to team up to fight it. But, even their combined power isn’t enough. As the Testament’s user, Philomela needs to play a role, too.

But, why aren’t Adam’s hex and Morrígan (and Ruth) strong enough to take down “Carnamagos?” There seem to be a few things at work here. First of all, Adam’s hex is merely a hex. It may work against humans. But, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be able to kill a god.

Second, as an ancient goddess whose name has been forgotten, Morrígan isn’t at her full power. Even equipped with a spear made of the anti-Lizbeth hex, she doesn’t have the ability to kill a god. Again, Philomela has to be the one to do it (somehow).

But, what exactly is the god they’re trying to kill? In my review of Episode 22, I called it Carnamagos. However, in this episode, Elias claimed it wasn’t Carnamagos. It’s some new deity that doesn’t have a name. Since it doesn’t have a name, I’ll be calling it “Carnamagos” for simplicity.

I believe it was Morrígan who referred to “Carnamagos” as traveling across time and space. So, that implies that it’s not a new deity. It’s a deity that shouldn’t exist in the present time and place at all. This could be why it’s so hard to kill.

An Inside Job

There was one thing that stood out to me among everything that happened in Episode 23. That was the werewolf implying that the Webster Tragedy was an inside job. This is a pretty huge revelation. Though, it doesn’t answer one of my biggest questions.

Previously, I had wondered how Lizbeth got her hands on The Testament of Carnamagos. Originally, the implication was that Philomela stole it from the college. But, we then learned that Lizbeth actually gave it to her to bring into the college.

And now, we’re learning that Lizbeth got the Testament from a member of the Webster Family. So, sure, that tells us where Lizbeth got it from. But, it also just moves the goalposts. Now, we have to wonder where this member of the Webster family got the Testament from.

Since Lizbeth received the Testament from the Webster family, I have to assume it’s a copy. I’m also assuming the original was missing from the college long before anyone noticed it. But, as of right now, we don’t have definitive answers. And, I’m not sure if we’ll get any — at least not in the anime.

There’s a new mystery afoot, though. Why would a member of the Webster family have given the Testament to Lizbeth? Were they just selling it to make money? Were they complicit in the following massacre of their clan? And if so, did they survive?

This also means that the Webster Tragedy may not have been so Lizbeth could get her hands on the spiders. Instead, she may have wanted to prevent anyone else from also getting their hands on a copy. And, killing the person/people who gave her the book served to cover her tracks.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 23? Did you stop to think about how Philomela’s childhood “memories” are all going to be in the third person? Where do you think “Carnamagos” came from? And, do you think the Webster Tragedy was an inside job? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 24 is available now.