The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 5

The Seven Shields

Even though not much happened in The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 5, it was interesting. We got to learn a fair bit about the various sorcerer/mage families. And that’s exactly the kind of world-building I’m interested in.

To start off this discussion of the sorcerer families of Mayohome, we have the Seven Shields. These are the seven major sorcerer families that came together to create the College. They did this during the previous war as a way to prevent the eradication of sorcerers. I’m not sure exactly how long ago this war was, though.

These families are Rickenbacker, Saint George, Nightingale, Forsyth, Roseingrave, Scrimgeour, and Hohenheim. A few of those names might be familiar to you. The most well-known is probably Hohenheim, the alchemist. But, two others I recognize are Saint George and Nightingale.

In the explanation of the families we got, Saint George is the hunter. This could mean it’s the family of the Saint George who slayed a dragon. And, we know that the twins Jasmine and Violet belong to this family. But, they’re not Chise’s only classmates from the Seven Shields families.

Veronica (the mean girl who orders Philomela around) is from the Rickenbacker family. That bad personality of hers definitely makes more sense now that we know about her family. But, as far as we know, it’s not like the Rickenbacker family is any more important than the other “noble” families.

And then there’s Rian Scrimgeour of the Scrimgeour family. Rian’s family is known for serving as bodyguards for other sorcerers and mages. However, Rian doesn’t appear to want anything to do with his family. He wants to go down his own path, instead. And based on his initial interaction with Chise, he wants to be a mage.

Gorgon-Human Hybrid

Zoe Ivy may not be from one of the Seven Shields families. But, he’s still from a pretty (in)famous family. He’s a descendant of the Gorgons — the snake monsters from Greek mythology. Zoe isn’t full-Gorgon, though. He’s a Gorgon-human hybrid.

I guess Zoe’s father has a thing for monster girls because he ended up with one. Apparently, he’s a sorcerer who had an interest in monster languages. Normally, Gorgons and humans can’t communicate. But, thanks to his research, he was able to. And I guess even in a language he’s not native in, his rizz was off the charts.

Being part Gorgon, Zoe hatched from an egg. And, I have to say that I’m not sure how this would work. Humans are mammals and Gorgons are, presumably, reptiles. Gorgons have scales and lay eggs. So, even if they’re humanoid, I don’t see how successful mating works.

Hatching from an egg isn’t the only weird thing about Zoe, though. He also does have hair, like a mammal. But, when he doesn’t have his earmuffs on, his hair turns into snakes. And speaking of his earmuffs, he needs those because he’s sensitive to sounds.

I don’t know if that sensitivity has a connection to his Gorgon side. But, sound isn’t all he’s sensitive to. He also has special goggles to protect his eyes and nose. Though, I don’t really understand that part. It’s not like we’ve ever seen him wear the goggles.

And, as far as I can tell, Zoe doesn’t have the Gorgon’s signature ability to petrify. None of the other students have had an issue looking him in the eyes. But, it could be that the petrifying gaze is an ability he has to activate. I assumed it would be active all the time.

The Webster Tragedy

There are two final families I want to discuss in this review. The first is the Webster family, to which Lucy Webster (Chise’s roommate) belongs. And the second is whatever family Philomela belongs to. As far as I know, we don’t have her family name yet.

So, what do we know about the Webster family? We know something called the “Webster tragedy” happened. And we know this tragedy involved the deaths of multiple members of the family. We also know that spies were involved, and because of this, Lucy hates Philomela.

But, what does Philomela have to do with all this? She comes from a family of spies. Now, there’s no evidence that Philomela’s family had any involvement in the tragedy. But, you can kind of understand why Lucy wouldn’t like people like Philomela anyway. From Lucy’s perspective, her family would be alive if not for sorcerers who act as spies.

Despite still being a student, Philomela is pretty skilled at spying already. But, she also doesn’t seem like she enjoys being a spy. Instead, it’s more like spying is all she knows how to do. Well, that and taking orders from people.

Something else I should also mention about Philomela is her relation to Rian. I believe Rian said they were second cousins. However, that doesn’t mean Philomela is a member of the Scrimgeour family. Rian specifically mentioned that Philomela’s family specializes in spying and gathering information. That implies she’s a member of a different family.

Anyway, I wonder how Chise is going to get Lucy and Philomela to settle their differences. In the ED, we see the three of them together. But, as things stand right now, I can’t see Lucy wanting to spend any amount of time with Philomela.

Conclusion

What do you think about The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 15? Which of the Seven Shields family names do you recognize? Do you think Zoe is a mammal or reptile? And, how do you think Chise’s going to get Lucy and Philomela to become friends? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 6 is available now.