Magi Episode 25: Alibaba and Aladdin [FINAL]

“Your bravery became a force that changed the world.” -Aladdin

Summary: Morgiana, Hakuryuu, and Aladdin fight to Alibaba in order to return him to normal. One acquired djinn and some teamwork later, Aladdin is able to use Solomon’s Wisdom on Alibaba and cleanse him of the darkness infecting his soul. Meanwhile in Sindria, Kougyoku and Yamuraiha help to finish off the black acid threatening to eat the island and Sinbad finishes off Ithnan’s body while Alibaba and Aladdin return his soul to the rukh. With the battle won (for now) things are looking towards the future, and the continued threat of the Kou Empire and Al-Thamen.

Impressions: Well, that was a satisfying ending. I guess. Everything wraps up (kind of) and they leave us with plenty of stuff to cover in the second season (coming this fall apparently). Circling around to end things in much the same way that they started, Magi ends a high note, giving us the action that we’ve come to expect from the series while reinforcing some of its key themes.

One thing I was really glad to see this episode was how much the ladies were kicking butt. Morgiana comes back to help fight Alibaba (who somehow skipped straight to a full dark djinn equip without the “turning into a horrible monster” bit? The whole dark djinn thing still confuses me), Yamuraiha comes back from looking like she’s going to lose to burn off half the black acid using a very cool piece of magic, and Kougyuoku uses her full djinn equip to save the day by getting rid of the rest of the black stuff. And she doesn’t really even have any loyalty to Sindria at all! She might be a blushing, shy princess, but she can also really take the initiative and can kick ass just as much as the rest of the Eight Generals. So hurrah for the ladies!

Sinbad also plays a little bit of a role in the finale, by using his Focalor djinn equip to destroy Ithnan’s body. I get the feeling that this was thrown in more to give Sinbad something to do, and to show his djinn equip (which judging by the amount of fan art I’ve seen of it, is something of a favorite) than anything else. I though that Alibaba had already killed Ithnan when he stabbed him last episode, so I was a little confused to see him back again. Sinbad’s final attack was very cool and grandiose  It did leave me wondering about what he ment when he said that he was already cursed. The attack used both the white and dark rukh which is interesting. It certainly leaves me wanting to know more, which I think was the point.

Hakuryuu getting Zagan was a little anti-climatic to me. It seemed almost too easy, like all Hakuryuu had to do was call out to him and bam! new hand. From what I’ve seen so far, Solomon’s Wisdom seems to be less of attack per say, than a way for Aladdin to enter people’s souls to help “cleanse” them of whatever is burdening their hearts. Alibaba’s mind (or soul or whatever you want to call it) is a weird under water reef that has a large skeleton of a snake in it.

Much like during the first dungeon the two of them conquered, Aladdin again reminds Alibaba that he is brave and he shouldn’t lose sight of that. Thanks to him so many other people have gone on to live good lives that to turn away from that would be madness. Remembering his friends and hearing Aladdin’s words (plus a little help from Cassim) get’s Alibaba to break the curse on him and return to normal. The water around them clears up and we see them holding/shaking hands like we’ve seen them do before. It’s an image that seems to symbolize the relationship between the two friends, and one that for me, symbolizes the show.

Alibaba and Aladdin then go deeper to find the last remaining part of Ithnan (everything that’s left of him after Sinbad destroys his body). We get some more concrete answers about Al-Thamen’s goals from him as well as maybe a tiny glimpse at who Aladdin really is. We already knew that Al-Thamen’s goal was to spread chaos, war, and destruction throughout all the land, but Ithnan tells Aladdin that the reason why they want to do this is so that people can break free of their destiny.

Aladdin does a much better job of explaining his counter-argument this episode by saying that by denying your destiny, whatever it may be, your basically losing the ability to move forward. By saying “Oh well, it’s pointless to try to do anything about this isn’t going to do me any good” you won’t be able to change and that will just lead to you not really giving a shit about your life (thus falling into depravity). I’m not totally sure if that logic works in my mind since characters like Dunya, Alibaba, and even Cassim are fighting, actively fighting to change their destiny. It’s not like they’re siting around boozing, whoring, and killing because hey! it’s not like it matters anyway. Maybe once I go and catch up to where the manga is this point will be clarified.

The greatest mystery for me was Aladdin’s mention of Alma Toran, and the brief flashback (? or forwards?) that followed. I’m guessing Alma Toran is the name of the city that’s shown, where we see Solomon (still in shadow) and his magi as well as a large group of people. A close-up shows the human versions of Paimon, Zagan and even Amon, so I’m going to go ahead and guess that the rest of them are also people who will one day be djinns. Apparently, according to Ithnan, Solomon and his group have been fighting Al-Thamen for a very, very long time indeed, and each time the groups have ended up destroying each other. Everything about Aladdin seems to point at him being the reincarnation of Solomon, so maybe this time, with Alibaba by his side, they can finally find a way to end the conflict without having the cycle repeat itself. Alibaba has already proven that he can think outside of just hatred and wanting to fight, and I was glad to see him only disarm Ithnan so that he could be returned to the rukh peacefully.

So with Sindria safe and the dungeon conquered, our two heroes return, along with the very tired Morgiana and Hakuryuu (and Dunya who’s magically still alive? Wait waaaat?) The show ends by showing us plenty of new faces, who we’ll probably be meeting next season (and who readers of the manga can probably identify and get excited about). The Kou Empire still looks like it’s out to take over the world, and what about this place Mangostadt that Dunya has come from? What’s the truth behind Sinbad and his “curse”? What will Aladdin, Alibaba, and Morgiana do next? With so much exploring left to do, and so many new places and new friends to discover, I’ll accept the fact that the ending is a little more open-ended than I would have liked, but only because I know there’s a second season coming. Until fall, I guess I’ll have to content myself with the manga. Keep your eyes peeled for the overall review, it’ll probably be coming later today.

Final Thought: In more parallels between this episode and the very first on; the title. Episode one was called “Aladdin and Alibaba”.