Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets The Wise Wolf – Season 1 Episode 6 Recap & Review

Merchant and Unreasonable God

Episode 6 of Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets The Wise Wolf begins with Holo and Lawrence exploring the underground pathway. Holo hears a few pursuers’ footsteps nearby and urges Lawrence to find an exit. Lawrence says he’s unsure if he’ll be able to find one. Suddenly, Holo hears some hounds in the distance and tells Lawrence to cover his ears. 

Holo howls at the hounds and entices them to leave her and Lawrence alone. Lawrence and Holo use this chance to flee. Eventually, they notice someone opening a floorboard nearby. Lawrence and Holo hide while the man who opened the floorboard tells them that the Milone Trading Company ratted them out. Lawrence has a hunch the man is bluffing but he tells Holo that they should flee.  

Before they do, another gentleman arrives and informs the others that he found Lawrence and Holo. The men chase Holo and Lawrence to a dead end. Lawrence and Holo fight the men, and this results in Lawrence getting severely wounded. Fortunately, Lawrence defeats the foe and continues traversing through the underground pathway with Holo. 

Then, Lawrence faints and awakens some time later. Holo tells Lawrence she smells a light source ahead and suggests they head in that direction. The two arrive below a vacant well and Holo’s upset this is what she sensed earlier. Then, the men from earlier arrive, alongside Yarei. Yarei greets Lawrence and the two discuss the Trenni silver coin fiasco and how it involves Medio Trading. 

Yarei doesn’t care about that business. All he wants is for Lawrence to hand Holo to him so he can send her to the Church. Yarei says this will destroy the Milone Trading Company. Yarei has a hunch Lawrence won’t comply, so he tries warming Lawrence up to the idea of abandoning Holo. Although Lawrence understands the value he can obtain by siding with Yarei, he tells Yarei that he doesn’t want to destroy his contractual obligations with Holo. 

This disappoints Yarei and encourages him to tell the others to murder Lawrence and capture Holo. Before Lawrence defends himself and Holo from Yarei’s men, Holo shoves Lawrence to the ground and starts drinking Lawrence’s blood. The men are baffled by Holo’s actions. Yarei tells them to show no fear and Holo tells Lawrence not to look at her. 

Holo transforms into a large wolf and the men flee in fear. She chases after them, knocking each one of them out. Holo returns to Lawrence and Yarei’s location. Before she kills Yarei, Lawrence tells her to stop. Holo bites Yarei’s jacket and drops Yarei and his jacket. Holo notices Lawrence cowering in fear. She grabs her wheat pouch and leaves. 

Lawrence calls out to Holo but she continues moving forward. He faints and wakes up in a different location. Richten greets Lawrence and apologizes for causing him trouble. Also, Richten says the Church didn’t locate Holo and that he’s thankful she didn’t transform in a public area. Lawrence learns that Richten saw Holo’s true form. 

Richten says his subordinates arrived moments after Lawrence fainted. At this time, Holo (in her wolf form) protected Lawrence from everybody. Richten says he saw Holo (in her human form) protecting Lawrence. Then, Richten says after he brought Lawrence to this location with Holo, Holo left without telling him where she was going. Moreover, Richten says it’s been a day since Holo left this place. 

After that, Richten says the Milone Trading Company obtained the Trenni King’s privilege. Richten says Medio Trading won’t report Holo to the Church now that they have that. Then, Richten tells Lawrence how much money they’ve earned and gives Lawrence his 50% share of the profit. Although Lawrence and Richten aren’t fond of the results, Richten presents Lawrence with better profit-oriented news concerning Medio Trading and the Milone Trading Company.

After that, Lawrence says he’d like Richten to supply him with pepper as payment. Lawrence explains why he wants Richten to pay him in pepper. Then, Richten rambles about an old religious tale. After that, Richten promises Lawrence he’ll get his pepper supply ready for him. Then, a Milone Trading Company worker arrives and hands Richten a letter. 

Richten examines the letter and tells Lawrence someone sent an invoice to him. Lawrence reads the letter and asks Richten where his loading area is. Richten tells Lawrence where he can find it and Lawrence leaves to find that place. Lawrence arrives and notices Holo sitting in a carriage. Holo tells Lawrence she doesn’t want to return home until she repays Lawrence. 

The episode closes with Richten stating how Lawrence and Holo represent “spice and wolf.”

The Episode Review

Spice and Wolf fans old and new will love this week’s title drop. Considering what’s occurred in the tale (so far), this wonderful snippet of dialogue feels well-earned and utilized. Title drop aside, this chapter demonstrates how much Lawrence and Holo value each other as companions. Although the two love to toy with each other occasionally, seeing both characters put their well-being on the line for each other is a sight fans will hold close to their hearts. 

Unfortunately, this chapter suffers from having jarring animation and imagery (at points). While these bizarre visuals only crop up in spurts, some viewers will find those scenarios lackluster compared to the polished and detailed portions. Moreover, Holo’s transformation and action sequences don’t look too great. Although some folks will get chills from Holo’s deadly antics, others might be disappointed with those sequences’ presentation.

On the other hand, it’s fortunate that Lawrence and Holo can put the Medio Trading and Milone Trading Company matters behind them and focus on their venture to the north. Although our pair will likely run into more troublesome scenarios in the future, we’re optimistic that they’ll find ways to resolve those conflicts genuinely and skillfully. 

By and large, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets The Wise Wolf episode 6 was a pleasant way to close this saga of Lawrence and Holo’s economic and exhilarating adventure.