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Undead Murder Farce Episode 13: Favorites

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Undead Murder Farce Episode 13 – Quick Summary

In Undead Murder Farce episode 13, “The Culprit’s Name,” Aya might have figured out the identity or identities of the murderer(s), but it might be a moot point. Between Alice Rapidshot, Kyle Chaintail, Aleister Crowley, the human villagers, and the werewolf villagers, everyone is killing everyone else. There might not be anyone left alive to learn the truth! And that’s not even mentioning Shizuku’s rematch with Carmilla! Was Aya correct in her deduction? Will anyone be left alive to hear it? Or will the case be solved by attrition?

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

Favorite Quote from Undead Murder Farce Episode 13

Undead Murder Farce Episode 13: Aya apologized to Jutte.

Aya actually asked for Jutte’s pardon. She’s so polite! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

The professional writer in me watched this episode in a state approaching awe. I love dialogue, and I love plot craftsmanship. This series had both in artistic abundance. I had the stupidest grin on my face the whole time!

No, that’s not my normal state. Why do you ask?

Aya was in the middle of describing, to the surviving villages, how Jutte had killed Louise. She realized that the bullet-hole in Nora’s body matched that from Louise’s, so Aya concluded that the same corpse had been reused. She went on to explain how the werewolf Jutte had consumed the flesh above Louise’s wound to make it look like a werewolf had killed her.

Jutte protested that she had not eaten Louise’s flesh.

““I’m not that heartless,” she said (11:46).  

“Oh, I do beg your pardon,” Aya responded (11:48).

Aya is so polite that it made me smile.

Favorite Moment from Undead Murder Farce Episode 13

Undead Murder Farce Episode 13: Jutte wasn't sure how to interpret Aya's words.

Jutte, in werewolf form, wasn’t sure how to take Aya’s words. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Not Content with “Really Good”

Most mysteries I’ve watched, and most I’ve read, would have been happy with the resolution Aya discussed in front of the survivoring human and werewolf villagers. The clues were all there. They painted a complex story of revenge. There was enough guilt to cover both populations.

Aya had solved a complicated mystery, which involved a sympathetic villain, in spite of an all-out war going on all around her. Most mysteries would have not only been content with that. They would have felt pretty good about it.

Not Undead Murder Farce. That was simply the framework for the real solution, which came near the end.

Undead Murder Farce Episode 13: Aya confirmed that Jutte acted to keep Shizuku safe.

Aya confirmed that Jutte had acted, in part, to clear Shizuku from suspicion. Hardly the act of a blood-thirtsy murderer. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Remember how I said the villain in this case, Jutte, was sympathetic? She was more than that. She was a survivor. Yes, by her own admission, she murdered young human women. That’s appalling. But she did so for a practical purpose. She wanted to save young werewolf women from becoming breeding stock.

Yeah, Regi, in a move that would have made the Bene Tleilax nod approvingly, had been using her priestesses as platforms to give birth to the ultimate werewolves. Jutte’s mom had escaped that to, ironically, give birth to the ultimate werewolf in the form of Jutte. Jutte wanted to save others like her.

Delivery: Aya’s Mercy

“Nora, I apologize,” Aya said when she had caught up to Jutte, who Tsugaru had captured (19:14). “There was an error in my deduction. And they call me an expert on monsters…”

Aya went on to say (19:24), “But your motive wasn’t revenge. You were helping the werewolf girls escape.”

I actually gasped. I had thought the mystery solved. Tsugaru had captured Jutte, and I thought Aya was coming in to deliver justice. Instead, she went one step beyond.

Aya delivered mercy.

Undead Murder Farce Episode 13: Jutte's plight moved Shizuku

Shizuku seemed moved by Jutte’s plight. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Maybe Jutte should pay for the deaths of the human girls. They didn’t deserve to die. But neither did Jutte’s mom. The girls in the werewolf village didn’t deserve to be turned into Axlotl tanks. Punishing Jutte would not bring the human girls back. Jutte had already demonstrated that she wasn’t blood-thirsty. She meant it when she said, “I’m not that heartless.” Jutte wasn’t heartless at all. She made the best of a terrible situation  –  a situation either the adults in the werewolf village or those in the human village could have prevented.

Mercy is underrated, though its application can be dangerous. It’s a risk, isn’t it? Maybe that’s part of its appeal for me. Doing the right thing by any given individual can be dangerous. But what I really like about it is that it breaks the circle of violence. In the end, I think that’s worth a little risk.

What did you think of the fight between Shizuku and Carmilla? What were your favorite moments in this episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

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8 thoughts on “Undead Murder Farce Episode 13: Favorites

  1. I wouldn’t say Jutte is a sympathetic villain. I’d say she’s a complicated villain.

    Jutte is guilty of five murders – Louise, Alma, and three more human girls – as well as orchestrating war between the two villages, including the massacre of werewolf villagers, though that may have been more one-sided than she expected due to the Royce agents. She certainly did her best to try and kill Tsugaru as well, but his experience outweighed her skills. All of that may be weighed against saving three werewolf girls from becoming breeding stock, defying the tyranny of both the granny and werewolf tradition, and going well out of her way to protect Shizuku, but she both directly and indirectly *ended lives.* Alma was a good woman who appreciated beauty, and now her corpse rots in the cave’s pond, tossed away like garbage. Where is justice for her and the other girls who Jutte and Louise used and threw away?

    It’s a situation where one is damned either way, whether one puts her to death, as surely would be the proper consequence for her actions under the law, or lets her off scot free.

    On a completely different note, who was it who said something about shooting victims in the face to conceal their identities? Bravo to whoever that was.

    Now here’s something very unsettling to consider: suppose, out of all the werewolves, it is Jutte whom Moriarty gets his hand on? Would that make Jack even stronger than he otherwise would be? Of course, with the Banquet winning all of their fights (and so handily) and getting away, they’d surely have plenty of fresh werewolf bodies to pick from, courtesy of Chainmail and Rapidshot.

    On which note, what did Aleister do with Rapidshot? Not kill her quickly, true, but why not? What did he have in store for her?

    And why did Carmilla completely spare Shizuku when she had her entirely at her mercy?

    We obviously don’t know the circumstances, but Victor and Tsugaru have definitely met before. Victor might be part of the Banquet now, but clearly has some loyalty for Tsugaru and Aya as well, and they worked together perfectly to take down Chainmail.

    Looks like, if we get a second season, we can look forward to returning to London, seeing Holmes and perhaps Lupin again as well. The story has just begun! 🙂

    1. I’ll still call her sympathetic, at least from my perspective. You’re absolutely right — Nora killed, and those lost lives are irreplaceable. That’s the problem with the kind of evil that Louise’s parents and granny inflicted on the world. It sets into motion brutal events that are difficult to stop.

      Once Nora found herself on the path to saving the other werewolf girls, she had limited options — because of the world granny had made. I don’t endorse her choices, but I understand them.

      And let me give a shout-out here to the writer! That’s some fine work to generate discussions like this!

      “It’s a situation where one is damned either way, ”

      Potentially so, yes. I talked a little about the dangerous of letting Nora off in my response to Momomanamu.

      Interesting thought about Banquet and their werewolf plans! Tsugaru had his hands full with Jack as it was.

      And I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know what Aleister had in mind for Rapidshot.

      I’ve been wondering about Carmilla’s motivations, too. Part of me wants to flippantly say that now that she’s seen Shizuku without panties, her view of the world has changed. But I really don’t know. I don’t think Carmilla was wounded — I think it’s at you said.

      Victor and Tsugaru seemed like old buddies, that’s for sure! I wonder where that’s going to lead? If anywhere.

      I hope the story has just begun. I hate to rank series, because each speaks to me a different way. But the dialogue, animation, and plot were wildly enjoyable. I hope we get more!

  2. This was such a great finale’! I loved that Nora was the murderer, but not the villain of the case, definitely a twist I didn’t see coming. Louise’s parents really were terrible to the very end, no wonder she was willing to go along with Nora’s plan. Honestly, I think more badly of Louise’s parents than I do of Louise herself. She was just a little girl that was doing what she thought she had to do, to survive. As for letting Nora go, hmm, I’m still not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand she did murder people, on the other hand she did it to save people. I definitely feel like the werewolf granny should have paid for her actions. That old lady hurt so many people, not to mention all the people she might have sentenced to death with their little village “trials” that she got to dictate to her whims.

    1. Oh yes, that granny deserved some comeuppance. Then again, perhaps seeing her dream of a supreme werewolf vanish right in front of her eyes despite/because of her tyranny is agony enough to live with for however long she has left. Then again, maybe not.

      Alongside her, Louise’s parents really are the true villains of this story. It they had never tried to abandon her, none of these horrible things would have happened. Louise would not have betrayed Jutte, the villagers would not have killed Rosa, and there would have been no revenge for Jutte and Louise to desire. Of course, things would have continued on as they were, without even three girls escaping, but, as Aya observed, nothing is going to change anyway, despite all of this bloodshed. That’s a high price to pay for so little.

      1. That’s a good — and sad! — point! Lots of people died, but the fundamentals didn’t change. Granny’s still free, and apparently still in charge of the village. Louise’s parents are free.

        I’d say denying granny the ultimate werewolf would hurt her. But she’s still alive! I don’t know that feeling is enough to balance the scales (though I have to admit I don’t know the unit of measure!).

        Same thing with Louise’s parents.

        Well, at least Nora got away. She didn’t have to become breeding stock. That counts for something!

    2. Absolutely agree about Louise’s parents. About the werewolf granny, too.

      I’ve been thinking about mercy a lot. It’s potentially expensive — but it’s potentially liberating, for all involved. In the context of this episode, our discussion is an academic exercise, but in real life, showing a criminal leniency can result in further crime — potentially murder.

      Even in the case of Nora, I do back Aya’s decision. Nora is not a bad person. But… Using the word bad blinds us to nuance. Nora, as the ultimate werewolf, is profoundly dangerous. In her pre-betrayal state, before granny did her thing, Nora seemed to be wildly unlikely to harm werewolf or human folks. But after granny?

      Nora’s wounded. That changed her. She not bad; she’s hurt, maybe broken. That makes her more dangerous to the people around her. Should she be imprisoned — or worse — because of her potential violence?

      I can answer that in the context of this episode: no, I don’t think she should be imprisoned. Especially if Louise’s parents and granny remain free. They’re culpable for this. Not Nora.

      Yet… in the real world, if I backed someone like Nora going free, I might be responsible for more deaths.

      Have you ever read The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, by David Graeber? It’s a fantastic appraisal of the evidence of human history. Part of it dealt with how Native Americans dealt with crime. They didn’t have jails. Detractors called the book woke for saying this, but the Native Americans didn’t need a prison population. Did their approach result in unnecessary deaths? Undoubtedly. But so does forcing people into prison, because that asks uncomfortable questions — like who gets to decide? Who gets rewarded for putting people in jail? And how do we prevent those motivations from mixing?

      No, I’m not a fan of privatized jails. Mixing the profit incentive and denial of freedom is a terrible combination. It rewards the wrong behaviors.

      But now I’m off topic. Sorry about that! To bring this home, I think you’re right about granny. She hurt too many people. At least she doesn’t have access to the ultimate werewolf!

Please let me know what you think!

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