Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
The Dawn of the Witch Episode 12 Review – Quick Summary
In The Dawn of the Witch episode 12, “The Beginning of the Adventure,” Zero oversaw the final preparations for the battle. Cervil, Holt, and Coudeau contributed their skills to defending the village, while Tyrant prepared to follow Holt’s orders — we hope. Roux had plans of her own. Everything seemed to be ready. It was only after the enemy troops neared the village that they realized: Lily was missing! Had she been kidnaped? Had she left on her own? And if the latter, what was she up to?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from The Dawn of the Witch Episode 12
Well, at least Mercenary apologized. Sort of. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
It was quite a tense moment: the demon-possessed beastfallen had captured Lily. It and its band of minions at first couldn’t decide if they just wanted to eat her or if they wanted to use her for a hostage. Shinpu interrupted their discussions and sliced off the demon-possessed’s arm with his cursed weapon. The curse was supposed to prevent the demon-possessed from regenerating its arm.
That was before it tore off the rest of the arm. That meant that it could regenerate the whole arm.
Things looked bad for Shinpu and Lily until they heard a loud racket. Mercenary had been close behind Shinpu. Now, the enormous fighter slashed his way through their enemies.
Unfortunately, Mercenary’s slashing had been quite energetic. He splashed quite a lot of blood everywhere. Including all over Shinpu and Lily.
“My bad,” he said contritely (05:02). “I got some on you.”
It was nice to see Mercenary didn’t think he was too busy to be polite!
Best in Show Moment for The Dawn of the Witch Episode 12
It’s cool that she played her role as teacher so well. I just wish she had a better answer! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: A Puzzle at the Heart of Humanity
I’m interested in how humans interact with power. How they accumulate it, how they use it; how they abuse it. It’s been on my mind quite a lot, given current events in the United States. Humans and power represent an interesting equation. The more power one has, the greater the temptation to misuse it. To stop someone from misusing power, we’d need power – which means we’d be tempted, too. Seems to be a bit of a vicious cycle.
The US started as an experiment in power management. The idea of deriving power from the consent of the governed almost worked. If we can’t get rid of the temptation to misuse power, maybe we can offset those in charge with millions of citizens, each with a little bit of power. Maybe the accumulated mass of all of those citizens (voters) would be a good check, right?
Then various circumstances happened, and, well, that grand experiment is teetering on the verge of collapse. Here’s hoping we figure out how to pull our collective bacon out of the fire.
What happens if someone like Cervil, with near infinite magical power, decides to deprive others of their freedoms? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
In the meantime, my favorite moment from this episode ties into the idea of power. Given Cervil’s near-infinite reserves of magic, the show has danced around addressing that idea. In this episode, we saw it come into focus. I found it both fascinating and exasperating.
It soon became obvious that even Mercenary’s strength and skill in battle could not bring down the demon-possessed. So, Zero asked him to keep the monster distracted while she prepared her incantation. As Cervil, Holt, and Coudeau watched with mounting horror, Zero’s incantation spawned an enormous green, spinning disc of cloud. Emerald lightning forked from it to the ground. She told Mercenary to get clear. To buy her just a little extra time, Mercenary clove the demon-possessed in half before leaping away.
Delivery: Zero’s Answer
Dozens, then hundreds of undead burst from the ground. Zero called out (11:00), “Forbidden Chapter, final page! … Arisen dead, it’s mealtime!”
The demon-possessed had just pulled itself back together when a tidal wave of the dead overwhelmed it. The voracious undead began tearing it apart – with their teeth and claws.
“Is this magic, too?” a horrified Holt whispered.
This is the part I liked the best (and to be honest, I enjoyed the whole battle!): Zero, now in teaching mode, said (11:57), “If an outstanding mage goes down the wrong path, they could easily bring the world to ruin. So, don’t go astray.”
I liked the moment, because it directly addressed a topic I’m invested it. It addressed a topic that the show’s very premise demanded it address, if it were to maintain thematic integrity. So, kudos for both being interesting and staying true!
Their reaction to Zero’s spell showed they were still innocents in the use of power. And that’s a good thing. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
But it disappointed me, just a bit. The answer Zero presented to thwart power was more power. It’s an answer I already had, and it’s one I think is lacking. And to be honest, maybe it’s my stupid optimism in the fact of contrary facts that makes me think an answer’s even possible. But fiction’s the place where I can experiment without putting humans in danger, so I’m going to keep looking. In the meantime, this was at least fun to watch!
What did you think of the lengths to which the witches went to not hurt the humans? What were your favorite moments in this episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
The Dawn of the Witch Episode 12: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Mahoutsukai Reimeiki – Episode 12 discussion – FINAL
- J Reacts: FULL POWER | The Dawn of the Witch episode 12 Reaction (魔法使い黎明期) (YouTube)
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 1: The Remedial Student and the Witch of the Staff
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 2: Don’t Call Me a Traitor
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 3: Beyond the Stream
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 4: I’m Not Afraid to Die
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 5: I Decide Who’s Worthy
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 6: Knowledge of Ignorance
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 7: I Can’t Save Anything
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 8: Respective Costs
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 9: A Stone Cast Into the Pond
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 10: Snack Time
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 11: Determination to Kill
- The Dawn of the Witch Episode 12: The Beginning of the Adventure
