Witch Hat Atelier Episode 5

This week’s episode was simply EPIC! Both the animation and soundtrack were absolutely phenomenal, topped off with how great it was to see the girls (especially Agott) were able to make up and find a way to work together to solve the problem sooner than later. Coco comforting Tetia prompted her to use her personally crafted cloud spell in return to comfort Coco. Thanks to this, Coco got a creative idea to distract the dragon is to make it a nice warm bed since it had gotten injured.

For one I was VERY glad that Agott didn’t shut Coco out the second time when she wanted to offer input. It probably did help a lot that she had finally cooled off and the girls were all much calmer thanks to the comfort of Tetia’s cozy cloud. (Tetia’s creation will certainly be greatly  loved by many in the future!) Thanks to that, they were able to plan around how to get to the casting spell’s location. Coco was also able to offer input of observation that Agott’s fire spell wasn’t effective against the dragon, and they needed a different ways to do it.

Another really nice progress between the two was when Agott drew inspiration and solution from Coco’s actions. Since she doesn’t have enough experience to help them with the grand scale of things, she had been copying their practised repetition that led to the success of casting a stable pyreball. Thanks to that, Agott realized that’s exactly what they needed to cast their creation. They needed to combine the Wall Breaker/Billow Cluster combination in a Repetition spell to create a cloud of sand. They decided to call it, “The Dragon Disabler Cushion” and “Serpent’s Bed of Sand”.

To Coco’s credit, the comfy bed plan did actually work as intended for a bit. The dragon was enticed by the warm sand cloud and ultimately decided to take a nap. It allowed the girls the buy enough time to ascend the stairs to the location where Coco spotted the magic circle on the tower she had spotted earlier. But it was admittedly risky and a touch naive, given they had to bank that the bed was enticing enough for the injured dragon to be incited to rest.

But what I loved about the outcome of this situation was how the girls, but more specifically Coco’s (who was the main subject of the trial all long) first thought was not to find ways to fight it, but use magic kindly. She took Qifrey’s words to heart that magic can and should be used to bring happiness to others, and that’s exactly what they did. This was a great way to challenge the Brimmed Hat’s frequent usage and teachings of forbidden magic that brings harm and suffering to others.

Of course while their spell of kindness did buy them time, they were out of ideas and were definitely in legitimate danger when the dragon did wake up from it’s nap. It was Qifrey (with the help of the trusty brushbuddy who can sniff out conjuring ink) who managed to find them on the nick of time to save Agott from getting eaten by the Dragon, and subdue it to an unconscious state. (Honestly I was worried there that he was going to kill the thing given the severity of the situation, which would’ve been quite sad after seeing the girls treating it with kindness.)

They absolutely went hard with the animation for Qifrey’s counter dragon spell, which was absolutely epic. Agott was floored by it. Like god damn, seeing such a majestic spell cast right before her eyes, that’s a treat for the eyes! I must’ve rewatched this scene like ten times just because it’s so good. I actually get the chills every time hahahaha!

With all that said and done, the girls are thankfully all made it out of the labyrinth in one piece. While the ordeal is over, the investigation has just begun as Qifrey had ask Nolnoa to inspect what the Brimmed Hat’s ink was composed of. And most importantly… to keep this information between them. Nolnoa wasn’t expecting it, but it troubles him deeply to see Qifrey’s intense gaze demanding absolute secrecy about this incident.

Ordinarily, in cases when Forbidden Magic has been used, Witches are obligated to report it to the Knights of Moralis. But clearly, Qifrey doesn’t trust them enough to want to share any information, much less on any leads he has been gathering on the Brimmed Hats. It definitely smells like there’s corruption at play within the Witch’s faction, and that’s probably one among many reasons why Qifrey doesn’t want to bring nor teach his disciples at the seabed’s headquarters.

Another thing that has crossed my mind of possibilities, is either Qifrey has lost someone who has been subjected or ‘chosen’ (similarly to Coco, as they have mentioned a plurality of “seeds”), or perhaps he personally has been subjected to their teachings in his youth. Needless to say, whatever history Qifrey has with the Brimmed Hats, it’s deeply personal for him to be this invested and riled up about them.

Speaking of the Brimmed Hats, the particularity individual who had lured Coco and her companions into the labyrinth trap wasn’t going to disappear without a word to her. Coco was unconscious, but it was particularly unsettling to see the guy holding her and going on excitedly about the seeds he planted finally sprouting, and merrily talking about this ‘so-called’ assignment.

Hopefully the joke’s on him though. I highly doubt it made her grow the way he intended it to. What Coco learned from this experience was teamwork, observing her fellow peers on how they draw such precise and clean circles and ultimately choosing kindness over harm and cruelty when up against a terrifying Dragon. Though it does raise questions, had she been alone and pushed to the limits of survival: Would committing to using magic kindly still triumph the desperation to protect herself by any means necessary?

That being said: When it comes to survival, both Qifrey showed us how magic was used to subdue the dragon. He didn’t kill it, but at least immobilized it so they could get away safely. That didn’t mean the dragon didn’t get hurt though, but it’s the grey area of compromise in a dangerous situation such as that one. It’s probably something Coco will gradually need to come to terms with when in face of danger, especially with whatever the Brimmed Hat intends to throw at her for their so-called “Assignments”.

And that’s probably the scariest thing about the Brimmed Hat’s declaration today. They fully intend to mentor her their ways. It’s not time yet– but the moment they feels she’s ready to bloom and tap into her true potential is when things will get very dangerous for her.

The question now is, after this incident, has Qifrey sensed that? Even after he had subdued the dragon, he and the girls were unable to immediately locate Coco. They only found her later at the bottom of the stairs. Qifrey did actually get the impression that the Brimmed Hat must’ve done something since she had no recollection of how she had gotten there to begin with. On top of that, she was already emotionally overwhelmed from the guilt of unwittingly dragging everyone into this mess.

Thankfully Qifrey was able to give Coco hope and reassurance that she wasn’t dead-weight during their ordeal. He told her:‘Ideas are as important to spellcasting as penmanship’. And it really was the best thing he could do to make sure she doesn’t crumble or let her confidence plummet. After-all, she’s been instilled with trauma and is just getting started.