I can’t tell you how much I adore Tartah’s and Coco’s newfound friendship!
Because of the Silverwash condition, Tartah has been told his entire life that he could never properly become a full-fledged witch, not even as a magic stationary. The only reason why he’s still an apprentice is not only because he’s very good at carving pens, but because despite being shunned by other Witches, Nolnoa believes in him. And it’s not like Tartah can’t cast draw magic, but he’s been discriminated by the Witches community, and when it comes down to needing to identify colour, he needs to go about it differently.
It was thanks to Coco’s idea that they were able to draw out the spell that became his own. This was because Coco was unable to draw it herself because she was missing a part that build it together properly. She had the right idea, but she didn’t know what she was missing. Tartah who’s doesn’t just understands the importance of three dimensional balance, but is also good at seeing it, was quick to problem solve and realize they needed to adjust the spells’ signs. By making the adjustments, it became his spell, and Coco was so happy for him because she knew how much it meant to him.
And this is such a big deal, because this spell completely transformed the way he sees the world. It solves the problem of not being able to identify medicine or pigment by its colours, but by its original form. As long as he possesses that knowledge, he knows what he’s looking for. It offered him light at the end of the bleak tunnel he’s been trapped in for so long. Now that his have been opened to the fact there’s ways to work around his vision, he most certainly now has the incentive to be more creative in potentially coming up with new ways to serve as a visual aid to compensate the lack of colours.
Best of all, this is something Coco gained to benefit from as well. Now that she has learned that by drawing the signs backwards inverts their effect, it offers a ray of hope for freeing her mother from being petrified. However before that, she’d need to test things extensively to ensure there’s no catch to it, as well as master drawing the complex spell’s signs backwards.
Bearing that in mind, I’m very curious to see see how much further this spell could reveal the ingredient details behind a more complex substance. This is something that could be incredibly useful, such as being able to identify the ingredients in a poison to know what’s needed to create the antidote. Though on the flip-side, it could also be exploited for selfish or malicious means, such as identifying a secret ingredient. But that’s just how it is, there’s always two sides to a coin after-all.
It goes without saying, I’m really looking forward to the friendship between Coco and Tartah. I’m also excited to see what kind of pen he makes for her, because it adds a wonderful sentimental touch to it. Even better if he makes it in a way that makes it comfortable for her to draw her lines more precisely! He doesn’t know that she used to using a stone as a marker, so it’ll be interesting to see how he goes about it, especially since he has only seen her draw a spell once in front of him. Perhaps an observation based off that might be sufficient enough since he’s a pretty observant kid.
Speaking of, Tartah did not get any answers from Qifrey this week. (And probably for the best that he didn’t. I really don’t want Qifrey to mess with his memories…) Tartah being the observant kid that he is, noticed during his first attempt that Qifrey’s gaze was quite icy despite the fact what followed was likely a feign ignorance of wanting to excitedly talk about magic. The second time he asked it so abruptly that Qifrey was actually caught off-guard with how randomly it seemed to have dropped, but managed to play dumb. It was enough to put him off from pressing further, but he’s still set on investigating the cause of it… which is mildly concerning. Hopefully it won’t get him into any deep trouble, or spill the beans to the wrong people (like the Knights of Moralis).
Since the plans have gone awry for ‘Eyeball’, we now have another Brimmed Cap dude who insists they must move with haste with their plans. This time, we have a fellow who’s an embodiment of forbidden magic (literally, by making themselves invisible, meaning they must’ve drawn the spells on their body), insists the best time to strike is when an apprentice leaves their master’s protection during a test. Since we know Coco’s not about to take a test (or at least, I don’t think she’s supposed to), this makes Agott a target.
Apart form that, while I’ve called the Witches’ strict rule system to be draconian, this episode did further highlight why these rules came to exist in the first place. Human’s greed and impatience is the root of all problems with it comes to dealing with magic. They want miracles, they want quick solutions, they want power, their selfishness and greed are what makes it so dangerous, and is why the world had descended into the madness during the era of conflict. However until told we’re otherwise, the lack of any form of conduct for people to abide to, is perhaps the main reason why the world descended into endless conflict and suffering. But here lies the problem with the Day of the Pact’s system. It appears the rule system that Witches must abide to, is not known to Outsiders. And by failing to communicate this, not only does it creates friction and misunderstandings when aid is refused, but it also fails to establish that Witches are not a commodity of convenience. Just because they have power, doesn’t mean they can use it, and it also doesn’t mean they should use it. And while I disagree with their approach to blanket ban it, this is probably the biggest reason why healing magic has been classified as a taboo.
