Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 08 – Quick Summary
In Wistoria: Want and Sword episode 08, “Shall we date?,” Will’s school planned a major expedition into the lower levels of the dungeon. Given Will’s performance, lots of students wanted him in their party. At first, Will was delirious with joy – he’d never been popular before. But Colette knew they didn’t really care for Will. They just wanted his abilities. To protect him, she declared he was not available, but he was taking her on a date. It seemed like a good plan – until a suitor from an unexpected quarter showed up! Who tried to disrupt Colette’s plans? Will they succeed? And will Julius or Sion take their defeats in stride?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 08
It seems like someone isn’t afraid to speak their minds! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I have to say: I feel at least a little vindicated. Lihanna saw what I’ve been saying all along. Adding will’s physical capabilities to a mage’s yields a more effective combat solution than a mage solution alone.
She explained as much to Julius, Sion, and Wignall Lindor, who is (I think!) the elven mage who claimed the crown in the previous episode. Julius said he thought Lihanna was crazy. Sion said he never wanted to be on a team with Will again.
Wignall, though, knew solid logic when he heard it. I’m not saying he’s sympathetic to Will. In fact, I’m not convinced the guy doesn’t have it secretly out for Will. But he didn’t have much patience for the whining from the other two.
“Such pointless pride and hostility,” he said, sighing (16:04). “What you’re spouting amounts to the howling of losers.”
Considering that Will smacked both of them around in a quite convincing way, I think Wignall’s on to something there.
Favorite Moment from Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 08
Colette takes a lot of nonsense in this series. It was nice seeing her stand up for herself. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Expectations Versus Intent
Have you ever read Fourth Wing (that’s my affiliate link)? It’s an insanely popular YA (Young Adult). At least, I think it’s YA. Because it’s #1 in its categories, I tried to read it. It is interesting: if I read it in my “default” mode, I did not enjoy it. If I recall how I approached the Harry Potter books, I enjoyed it quite a lot. This show is like that.
In my “default” mode, I did not like Will’s reaction to Lihanna asking him to join a party with Julius and Sion. I wanted Will to point out, based on his dungeon experience, that being in a party where at least half of the members would help the monsters kill him, would be a terrible idea.
And she can still read the room better than Will. Well, maybe not… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
But that’s how Will, a high school teenager, would think. He would think as he did in this episode; he would react how he has all along. My point is that I can enjoy this show a lot more by accepting it for what it is, and simultaneously not demanding it be something else that I might prefer.
The whole date sequence really tested my dedication to the conclusion!
Rosty is an enigma to me. There’s an interesting theory that several Redditors floated in the Reddit thread (see below), but I’m not going to take any of that into account. To set the stage for my favorite moment, I’ll just say that I did not expect Rosty to show up to interfere with Colette and Will’s date.
Not that Will had any clue any of it was happening. He makes even Lihanna seem like an expert in the subtleties of human interaction.
Delivery: Colette Stands Up for Herself (Literally)
Rosty had come back with two drinks for the three of them. He handed one to Colette. When Will asked why he didn’t have one, Rosty said that he and Will could share Will’s drink.
Colette decided she’s taken enough. She offered her drink to Rosty. That’s when Rosy suggested Will get his sword maintained. Colette seconded the motion – she’d thrown down the gauntlet, and she wanted to see it through out of Will’s sight. So, clueless Will trotted off.
Colette gathered her courage and basically asked if Rosty saw Will as more than a friend. Rosty got right in her face. He said that he loved Will more than anyone, and that furthermore, Will loved him more than Colette.
And this is the moment where Colette thought, “Well, I’ve taken about enough of that.” Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
My favorite moment in this episode is how Colette reacted. She decided she’d had enough. Standing and asserting herself, she said (12:34), “Now, you listen here. Up until four years ago, Will and I hugged all the time.”
As far as powerful retorts go, it wasn’t much. But I liked seeing Colette stand up for herself felt good. She takes a lot of crap for being friends with Will, and I’d like to see Will’s roommate give her some support. Failing that, I’m glad she won’t just stand aside and watch her own interests get trampled.
Though I have a bad feeling she’s fighting a losing battle, where Elfaria is concerned.
What did you think of Will’s new-found popularity? What were you favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 08: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Tsue to Tsurugi no Wistoria • Wistoria: Wand and Sword – Episode 8 discussion
- Otaku Sinh – How to Anime: Wistoria is Setting Up SOMETHING CRAZY!
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 01 – Like a Lone Sword
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 02 – As Though Undaunted
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 03 – Order & Watcher
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 04: The Eve of the Grand Festival
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 05: Raise the Starting Pistol
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 06: Between Pride and Passion
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 07: Twelve Secret Ice Magics, El Glace Frosse
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 08: Shall We Date?
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 09: Praxis Begins
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 10: Our Dream
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 11: The True Name of Cowards
- Wistoria: Want and Sword Episode 12: Wand and Sword
About Wignall: We’ve heard that both the elves and the dwarves are expats from other worlds, and from what people say, Wignall would be a Danmachi elf. So he’d have been growing up in a world with your usual rpg party. He wouldn’t have grown into the current anti-magic prejudice. He might be a magic superiorist, for all we know, but that’s not quite the same thing. He’s simply not in the same boat as the others in the room. (Somehow I don’t trust the author enough to have thought that through, but that’s another thing.)
As for Rosty, the most common online theory I’ve heard is that he’s a girl (who – after this episode – might magic up a male body, who knows?) I agree he’s an enigma. He might be another watcher for the tower, for all I know. If multiple watchers take an interest in that guy… The thing is, I’m not that curious. I’m perfectly fine to let show tell me on its own time.
Also, at that point I struggle to see point, character-role wise, of both Shion and Julius. They both sort of seem to go the tsundere route (I mean I’d not have expected an apology out of him, much less humiliating kitchen work – given that he never made any promise, at least not that I recall.) This is becoming silly.
Let’s just say, I find the show entertaining, but it’s definitely not the writing that impresses me.
There’s a chance the author put the thought in this time — back in episode 6, we got a quick shot of Filvis and Lefiya Viridis straight out of Sword Oratoria.
The Reddit thread I linked to above had some ideas about Rosty’s identity, and you’re thinking along the same lines they are.
I’m struggling to get excited about Julius — he seems like a slightly angrier Sion without any distinguishing/interesting contribution. Honestly, I’d love to find a mage that hates Will, attacks him, gets his butt handed to him, and decides to respect Will. That’d be new, for this series!
Will is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: outcast and ridiculed for nothing which is his own fault, until he proves himself, and, presto, everybody loves him to the point that they conveniently forget the great, heaping pile of crap they have all spent their days burying him under. Of course, this is Heaven to one who was so outcast, so he’s not stopping to consider it much. Colette cares enough to get angry on his behalf.
Being so alone for the majority of his existence at the academy, Will is perfect prey for most any predator. I include Rosty in that, as the young man’s behavior would strike anyone outside of such as creepy, overbearing, obsessive, and inappropriate. He has always been suspicious, but he has now officially crossed lines.
Wignall may have been smart and humble enough to swallow his ego and listen, while Sion and Julius whined like whipped pups, but Lihanna seems to have made at least one critical error in her plan. She has assembled a team which looks nice on paper – all the aces of the school, after all, even if they are “leftovers,” which speaks to very foreboding and immense power levels in the next tier up from their present levels – but which is utterly lacking in the single most important thing for any team: trust.
Pick any team out of any situation in any story where they accomplish something great, and what do they all have in common? They trust each other and are worthy of that trust in return. Pick any such team from any story where they fail horrendously, and what do they have in common? They cannot or will not trust each other, or they fail to live up to such trust as is given to them.
The only one on the team that Will can really trust is Colette. Sion and Julius, of course, are impossible to trust right now, but Wignall and Lihanna don’t strike me as shining beacons of trustworthiness either.
I foresee this not going very well at all and fingers getting pointed later, if they survive.
“Will is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Ooh, this is just perfect. It’s so spot on, and it conjures up that image of Santa Elfaria in a sleigh dragged by Will. It sort of sums up the show pretty well.
“Santa Elaria” — LOL.
Colette earned yet more of my affection when she stood up for Will like that — your characterization was spot on!
Rosty as predator — I can’t rule it out! I have a sense that he’s just obsessed with Will, and, well, there’s the Reddit theory about who Rosty really is. Rosty often seems to have Will’s best interests in mind, though I could be reading that wrong. And yeah, “officially crossed lines” is a good description.
Teamwork tends to degrade when one or more members of the team might spontaneously knife another in the back. I feel bad for Lihanna. She’s smart, but she’s not _smart_ — she should read Dune for its politics.
If the show follows form, the fingers left to point will avoid Will. Of everyone’s performance in the dungeons, his stands head and shoulders above. Though I absolutely take your point that the mages will want to blame him.
I really hope that Wignall and Lihanna turn out to be making an honest effort. I don’t mind antagonists, but it’d be nice if Will had an ally or two besides Colette (though she makes up for the lack of numbers in sheer effort).
…taking an educated guess here. That theory about who Rosty really is, it’s that he’s actually a non-identical ice clone of Elfaria’s, isn’t it? It accounts for “his” overwhelming obsession with Will, nuances in his behavior, immediately feuding with Colette and the claim of their feelings for each other, and how she was always immediately apprised of what was going on during the contest, right down to Will’s recollection of getting bullied by ten of her as a child.
I _think_ that’s a leading theory. It makes some sense to me, and it would explain why Elfaria seems like she’s drowsing so much. She actually experiencing life through Rosty’s eyes!
I can’t decide if I’m impressed with her dedication to Will — or if I think she’s a stalker! I guess it could be both, though…
I’m not so sure about Elfaria. She may eventually become disengaged enough from Will that she can be just friends with him and let Collette have her way.
I can’t get a handle on her. I can’t tell if she’s obsessed with him, or if she’s just flighty. Or both.
Will seems like he’s head-over-heels for Elfaria, so it’s bittersweet seeing Colette stand up for herself. I’m pulling for her, but I’m not sure she has a chance.