The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 12: Favorites

Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 12 – Quick Summary

In The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 12, “A small leak will sink a great ship. II,” there’s panic among the staff: the instructor who was to lead the gathering mission in the garbage tower was with Lucy in the infirmary. Someone else was leading the students! How much danger is Chise in? Will her friends be okay? And can Alice ever figure out how to get her feelings across to Renfred?

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

Favorite Quote from The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 12

The heat pat was a nice touch. Notice the Will o’ the Wisp? He had to climb back up her shoulder after the collision. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I just witnessed the most Alice of all Alice moments. It was hilarious! It also gave me my favorite quote of the episode

Alice was pissed off. She tried to communicate her feelings to Renfred, but she didn’t feel like she’d succeeded. Renfred let slip that he kept a secret about his father from her, so she went in search of Adolf Stroud. She hoped to make him tell her the secret. But he wasn’t in his office.

Will o’ the Wisp on her shoulder, she barreled down the corridor. She had folded her Halloween ghost costume on her forearm. Unfortunately, Lucy, fresh from her confrontation with her brother, ran down the corridor at a right angle. They collided. 

Did you notice Alice’s reflexes? She caught Lucy before she hit the ground!

Alice asked if she was okay, and Lucy was so distraught that she could not answer. There was a moment of awkward silence broken only by Lucy’s sobs. Alice suddenly looked down at the ghost costume, fluffed it out, and draped it over Lucy’s head.

“Here, you can have this,” Alice said, patting Lucy’s head under the costume (13:31). “I know the feeling.” Then she ran off.

That moment and quote were peak Alice.

Favorite Moment from The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 12

Lucy had finally reached the point where she decided on her mission. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Misunderstandings Can Fester for Years

I liked Lucy from the first moment we saw her. I think it was when Chise accidentally smacked her with a door. Right away, we could see she was gruff. She had a chip on her shoulder. But she was fundamentally not a cruel person. Just unapproachable.

We found out a many of the reasons why, especially when Seth re-joined the cast and then began interacting more with Lucy back in episode 9. Lucy thought Seth hated her as the chosen child. That’s a big part of why she is so cold and distant. She told herself she hated Seth, because he left the family. But their situation was more complicated than that.

Once they discovered that an instructor wasn’t the one leading the expedition into the garbage tower, Lucy wanted to go help her friends. Seth restrained her, and she yelled at him. Seth’s a nice guy. He’s carrying his own burdens. Instead of yelling back, he just asked her what he had done to upset her so much.

Saying the way he talked creeped her out, she said (10:07), “You already left me once.”

Lucy said more than she intended to. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Maybe she realized she’d said too much. But after she told him not to start acting like her parent, she ran out of the infirmary. Poor guy didn’t know what to do. But apparently, he ended up following her.

I already described how Alice ran into Lucy – literally. Lucy remained in that spot, still under the ghost costume, until Seth found her. I can’t imagine what went through his mind. When he last saw Lucy, she was angrily chewing him out. Now he saw her standing completely still in the middle of the corridor, apparently wearing a ghost costume.

He took a step towards her and reached out, but she moved. She didn’t flinch, exactly. But given the mood, he interpreted it as her telling him to stay back. For a few heartbeats, he stared at her, completely at a loss. I can’t blame the guy. I’ve never been in a similar situation – none of my emotional encounters have involved a Halloween costume – but I know enough to give him credit for not giving up. 

Delivery: Guilt Is Distracting

Then his eyes widened. He saw something he could understand. He could see her shaking because she was crying. Just like she had been crying when he had left the family. He saw his chance to correct the mistake he made by just walking off all those years ago. Slowly, giving her a chance to run off if she wanted, he enfolded her in a hug.

That’s not my favorite moment. You have my respect if it’s yours! But mine came shortly after this.

He took the chance to explain his perspective, especially how he thought that after he had left, she’d be fine as the family leader. Everyone respected and liked her, after all. Seeing how things turned out, he apologized. She returned the hug and apologized herself. All the guilt she had carried came out in a tumbled explanation of what she had seen back then – and how she had misinterpreted it. Their mutual apologies reset their relationship. It was a very touching moment!

Seth’s words unlocked Lucy’s understanding. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

But also not my favorite moment! That moment came next. Freed from the uncertainty and guilt, she decided what she had to do. She threw aside the costume and declared (16:31), “I’m going to find out who was behind it! I’m going to study, master sorcery, and become powerful! Even if I have to use my name as bait!”

It was good to hear the resolve in her voice. It was good to see that she had gotten past the misunderstanding that had held her back. Most of all, it was good to see her make up with Seth. They’re all that remains of their family, and they never really hated each other anyway. Lucy has yet another ally to join Chise. Sad thing is, I think she’s going to need them. Looks like things are going to get even more rough in the next cour!

What did you think of the expedition into the garbage tower? What were your favorite moments in this episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 12: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: Mahou Tsukai no Yome Season 2 • The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 – Episode 12 discussion
• Kvasir369: Ancient Magus Bride: Season 2 – Episode 12 Review
• RABUJOI: The Ancient Magus’ Bride – S2 12 (Part 1 Fin) – Trick or Treat

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 1: Live and let live. II
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 2: Birds of a feather flock together
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 3: Birds of a feather flock together. II
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 4: The cowl does not make the monk.
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 5: First impressions are the most lasting.
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 6: Better bend than break.
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 7: Slow and Sure
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 8: Slow and sure II.
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 9: Conscience does make cowards of us all.
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 10: Conscience does make cowards of us all. II
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 11: The small leak will sink a great ship. I
• The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 12: A small leak will sink a great ship. II