So the water in the shoes we saw in Lara’s shoes was the clear sign that the effect of the potion wearing out. Lisa and Kota know of its limitations well, so they confronted Mari to provide Lara the knock-off version they’ve made for themselves to buy her a little more time.
Lisa did not choose violence this time, which did prove to be more effective than her first reckless attempt. She did manage to persuade Mari to tell Lara to be with her family, even for a little bit. Mari in turn has noticed Lara hasn’t been herself lately, so when Lisa broke the news to her about the time limit, and what will happen to her if she fails to find true love, naturally she was quite spooked and frustrated that Lara’s been bottling it up all this time. Even worse, while Lara has been trying to hide it, it was plain as day how much she had been deteriorating since the night of the fireworks festival. She has started dazing off, more water rolling off her, she’s stumbling over, she really was in bad condition.
Actually bearing that in mind, it is rather somewhat curious that Grace never said a peep about it, as she of all people should’ve been able to see plain as day what was happening. I suppose you could say perhaps this is her not “meddling” with the ‘trial’ Lara’s on. Still, it is rather curious how Grace has quite a back-seat for a while now. Lara hasn’t confronted her on her self-realization, and Grace herself has been rather quiet despite knowing Lisa is onto her. Heck she didn’t even try to get Lara back, thought she probably had faith that Lara would figure things out herself anyways– which she did. But I digress.
That being said, the flaw in Lisa’s plans however was underestimating Lara’s will to overcome her fear. Lara’s fear wasn’t so much about the surface as it has been for Lisa, but rather the fear of hurting the ones she cares about. And she finally confessed that she was scared to Mari after being pressed hard enough that she wasn’t okay.
So Lara’s call to Luca came at an important time when she has been deeply reflecting on who she is, and what her responsibilities are, and what she should do in this situation. Her whole life, her family were the ones who kept telling her that Humans are vile creatures and cannot be trusted. But with the exception of the incident where the Prince turned on her out of fear, Lara’s experience with Humans has been overall been positive, and two of them (Mari and Luca) are aware of her true form.
So with the help of their call, Luca was able to include a video call to show her Mari’s match, and it helped her find and steel her resolve. Lara ultimately decided that it’s worth to face her fear and take that leap of faith that she will find true love on the surface. And for the first time, we saw the Fish Dagger activate not to bring harm, but to instead help Lara get to shore faster than the speed they were going at so she could get to Mari’s match. Thanks to that they were united, and back to the search for true love once again.
Speaking of Mari, she was really feeling the loss and frustrating about Lara’s situation and her abrupt departure. It’s the first time we’ve actually seen her lose her cool and break down into tears. She just wished Lara would open up to her more about her situation, but she’s also terrified of the fact Lara’s quest to find true love is a race against time. Fail to do so, and she’ll turn into sea-foam. It’s understandable why Mari would be so scared for her and missed her dearly. It made it difficult for her to focus during the last day of the tournament, but thankfully she managed to see it through and win the whole thing.
With that settled, the two of them did talk about the future. Mari’s aiming to become a professional boxer, and when she does, Lara makes a promise her that she’ll make her cake. The promise is sweet, but also worrisome because we don’t want to see this promise broken. And on top of that, even Lara doesn’t really know the outcome of what happens to these special princess AFTER they find true love.
Which brings me to the final point. I did find Lisa’s explanation of Lara’s role and responsibility as a special princess a touch sketchy. She claims that even Lara’s own light will save herself from turning into foam too… But as I just said, we don’t actually know the details of these special princesses fate. It’s been left ambiguous, and the one thing we do know (Lara’s mother being a special princess who had given the kingdom its light, and is no longer around) know gives us a reason to be skeptical and concern for her fate. So sure, maybe she doesn’t turn into foam, but who to say it isn’t giving up her entire soul by becoming the light itself? Or what if it forces her back into her shell for a deep slumber like the ED Theme may be potentially foreshadowing? Maybe I’m just a bit paranoid that this might take a bittersweet/tragic turn. But until we get all the facts, there’s a legit reason to be wary of the price special princesses may have to pay for this.
