The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 6

Master and Daughter

While The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 6 was alright, next week’s episode looks very good. So, there’s that to look forward to. Episode 6 primarily focused on the relationships between masters and apprentices. And I don’t find this as interesting as the discussion of sorcerer families from Episode 5.

At the start of the episode, we see Elias ask Renfred about his relationship with Alice. Elias doesn’t know how to explain his relationship with Chise and he’s looking for some advice. But, he seems to misjudge the relationship Renfred has with Alice.

Elias thought Renfred took Alice on as his apprentice because she’s breedable. Elias thought Renfred’s plan was to use Alice and her magic power to maintain his lineage. But, this isn’t the case. Instead, Renfred views Alice as his adopted daughter. So, it’ll be a bit weird if they do end up together.

But, what I found intriguing about this interaction was the idea Elias brought up. According to Renfred, sorcerers do choose their partners based on magic power. I guess the idea is that if two powerful sorcerers have kids, their kids will also be powerful. And that maintains the prestige of the family name.

I have to assume that at least a few of the Seven Shields families engage in this practice. For instance, are Veronica Rickenbacker’s parents going to let her marry just anyone? I doubt it. Based on her personality, her family likely cares a lot about their status.

This also implies that if Elias and Chise have a child, that child would be very strong. I don’t even know if it’s possible for them to have a child considering Elias isn’t human. But, Elias is a powerful mage and Chise is a Sleigh Beggy.

I Definitely Remember Joseph

Later in Episode 6, we see a flashback from Alice’s perspective. Alice doesn’t want Renfred to view her as his daughter. She wants him to view her as his bodyguard. That’s the role Alice decided for herself. And this flashback is key to that self-identity.

One of Renfred’s notable features is that he only has one arm. I know it’s shocking, but that wasn’t always the case. He lost his arm while protecting Alice from Joseph. And this is important because Alice feels that she’s to blame for this injury.

After all, Alice views herself as Renfred’s bodyguard. So, how could she let him get injured like that in her place? That’s why she decided that she’s going to get stronger — to protect him next time. So, hearing that Renfred views her as a daughter hurts. She feels like he doesn’t respect her goal.

Now, as you may have surmised from the title of this section, I forgot Joseph existed. After the episode, I looked up a little refresher on him. And, what do you know? He was the main antagonist of the first season. Who could have guessed?

Well, even though we already know who Joseph is, I’m still going to mention a wild theory anyway. Joseph has white, straight hair. Do you know who else has white, straight hair? That’s right, Philomela. Could they be from the same family? And if so, will that matter at all?

We know Philomela’s family excels at gathering information. And Joseph mentioned how he heard Renfred was the kind of person to protect his own bodyguard. It’s obviously a bit of a stretch. But, that could have been a hint toward the connection between Joseph and Philomela. Or, I’m reading too much into it.

Master and Bride

We now know Alice and Renfred don’t exactly view each other in the same way. But, what about Chise and Elias? Are they a married couple? Are they master and apprentice? And if the latter is true, who’s the master and who’s the apprentice?

Well, it turns out the answer is all of the above. They are a married couple — they got married, after all. But, they’re also master and apprentice. Though, that relationship isn’t one-way. Elias is both Chise’s master and apprentice. He’s her master when it comes to magic, and her apprentice when it comes to emotions.

And even though neither of them is entirely sure what it means for them to be married, they feel the same about it. They’re both happy when spending time together and they want things to stay that way.

When asked why he wanted Chise to be his bride, Elias has an interesting answer. It’s not because he loved Chise. And it’s not necessarily even because he wanted a bride. More than anything, Elias wants someone who won’t leave. To him, this happens to be what a bride is.

Think back to Episode 4 when Rahab told Chise about how Elias came to be interested in brides. It was because Elias never had a family of his own. He wants someone to spend the rest of his time with. And as he put it in this episode, an apprentice eventually leaves their master.

So, why did Elias want Chise to be his bride? Because he doesn’t want Chise to leave him. Though, Chise did rain on his parade a bit by mentioning how many married couples end up divorcing. It doesn’t seem like Elias knew this was even a possibility.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 6? Is breedability the most important quality to look for in an apprentice? Do you think Joseph is somehow related to Philomela? And, is it ethical to marry your apprentice whom you also purchased as a slave? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 7 is available now.