The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 4: Neko Land and the Duel of Faiths

Quick Summary of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 4: Neko Land and the Duel of Faiths

In The Ancient Magus’ Bride episode 4, “Everything Must Have a Beginning,” Chise Hatori and Elias Ainsworth travel to a land where cats are literally king. But an ancient evil is brewing and threatens them with death and disaster. Can Hatori unlock her powers in time to save them? Or will a new enemy’s plan destroy her — and her dreams?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

What’s In This Post

Quick Episode Summary
3 Favorite Moments
Thoughts
Related Posts

3 Favorite Moments from The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 4: Neko Land and the Duel of Faiths

First Favorite Moment from The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 4: Neko Land and the Duel of Faiths

Hatori’s comfortably listening to Elias and Molly, the King of the cats, talk about why the Church asked them to visit. A cheerful girl bursts out of a house to greet Hatori, who’s shocked to find herself alone with the cats (7:40). Not wanting to be discovered, Elias has vanished, and the cats pretend they’re just cats. Hatori recovers quickly and claims she was just chatting with the cats, which seems to please the little girl who considers herself Molly’s owner.

It’s a humorous moment, and it gave me another example of Elias just not understanding the basics of human interaction. If he understood even a little, he would have prepared Hatori — and maybe earned a little bit of trust that could have come in handy later in the episode. Dramatically, I thought this scene was a great way for Molly to give some backstory to Hatori without it feeling like dry exposition.

Second Favorite Moment from The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 4: Neko Land and the Duel of Faiths

After her adventure under water (poor girl — at least this week’s water looked a little less frigid), Elias asks for her help to cleanse the corruption. Worried that he might lose faith in her if she refuses or fails, she agrees to help (16:28). I think this is an important milestone in her development as a character. She’s starting to take charge and make decisions for herself. She’s still unsure of her place in this world, and she might be worried about losing what safety and belonging she’s found, but it’s Hatori switching from passive to active mode. I love seeing characters develop, especially when they get stronger!

Third Favorite Moment from The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 4: Neko Land and the Duel of Faiths

Despite her doubts and uncertainty, with only the little Ariel to keep her company, Hatori makes the trek across the pond to confront the corruption (19:15). She seemed surprised she can walk on water (I was surprised, too!), but she makes the trip as a consequence of her decision. She’s still filled with doubt about what to do for (or to) the couple whose choices resulted in the corruption. Yet, she doesn’t back down, and she’s determined to figure out what she’s supposed to do. That was a beautiful moment, interrupted perhaps by the sorcerer Mikhail Renfred and his accomplice, but a beautiful moment nonetheless.

Thoughts about The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 4: Neko Land and the Duel of Faiths

Here’s my advice for Hatori: If you have to choose who to trust between a socially inept yet otherwise honest mage (and an Ariel who, despite having tried to kidnap you, is openly affectionate) and the people responsible for holding a knife to your throat, chose the former. Just sayin’…

Though when I phrase it that way, it’s easy to see that Hatori still has reason to consider what the sorcerer’s saying, doesn’t she? She’s heard strange questions from people like Angie Varley, who point-blank asked just what Hatori was. The Ariels did try to kidnap her. Hatori may not have heard Lindel’s words when he talked to Elias about Hatori’s longevity, but she probably had a feeling they were talking about her.

Hatori is still trying to find her place in a very strange world. It’s not a new world. After all, she’s seen it all her life. But it’s always been mystifying to her. Because of the weakness of the people around her, she was a cast out because of what she could see. So it’s not surprising that she’s come to associate this world with misery.

In this episode, she accepts the purification task, partly because she wants to justify Elias’ faith in her. She plainly sees that she has some magic, because after her first hesitant steps, she walked on water. Plus, I doubt she’s forgotten that she created a field of flowers back in episode 2. Yet, even as she approaches the island with a fairy by her side, she’s wracked with doubt.

Then Renfred (that jerk!) shows up and tries to convince Hatori that she shouldn’t purify the corruption on the island. He tries to tell her she can’t trust Elias, or the Ariels. To me, it’s clear he has his own agenda, and I don’t doubt he’d lie to get his way. Yet, the show’s done a masterful job of setting up the situation to test Hatori’s fledgling faith. Will she listen to Renfred’s narrative? Will she trust Elias and the Ariel? Or will she take a third path — will she trust in her own perceptions of her new world and her place in it? I’m really looking forward to finding out!

How about you? What were your favorite moments in the episode? What do you think Hatori will choose? Let me know in the comments!

Other Posts of Interest about The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 4: Neko Land and the Duel of Faiths

Other Anime Sites

• The Reviewer’s Corner: The Ancient Magus’ Bride Ep 4 Review: Cat Kingdom
• Angry Anime Bitches Anime Blog: Mahoutsukai no Yome Episode 4: Everything must have a beginning

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 1: April Showers Bring May Flowers
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 2: One Today is Worth Two Tomorrows
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 3: The Balance Distinguishes Not between Gold and Lead
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 5: Love Conquers All
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 6: The Faerie Queene
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 7: Talk of the devil, and he is sure to appear
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 8: Let sleeping dogs lie
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 9: None so deaf as those who will not hear
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 10: We live and learn
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 11: Lovers ever run before the clock
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 12: Better to ask the way than go astray
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 13: East, west, home’s best
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 14: Looks breed love
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 15: There is no place like home
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 16: God’s mill grinds slow but sure
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 17: Look before you leap
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 18: Forgive and forget
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 19: Any port in a storm
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 20: You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 21: Necessity Has No Law
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 22: As you sow, so shall you reap
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 23: Nothing seek, nothing find
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Episode 24: Live and let live