The Ancient Magus’ Bride – Season 2 Episode 18 Recap & Review

Coming events cast their shadows before

Episode 18 of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 begins with a strange creature and woman approaching Silver and Joseph asking for Chise. Meanwhile, Chise looks into Lucy’s memories and sees werewolves bickering with each other while another comforts a young Lucy. A child apologizes to a few victims and Chise informs Lucy about what she saw, setting her off.

We cut to a conversation between Gregory and Quillyn. He’s confused as to why she’s not making any significant efforts to capture the criminal and realizes she’s closing the College until Christmas. While the students are baffled by the news, some are excited for the upcoming Christmas party. 

Chise hands her friends some runes and leaves her buddies to go to her daily checkup. She senses Philomela’s scent and stumbles upon Alcyone. Chise hands her a rune amulet to give to Philomela and asks her to give Philomela her best wishes. We cut to Lizbeth having a flashback of her son named Adam. She vows to take him back. Alexandra tells Chise her curse hasn’t spread to anyone or been active lately.

While Alexandra breaks down the different types of curses to Chise, Philomela recalls moments of her past with her family. She questions what she can do to make Lizbeth accept her. Chise concludes that she may never be rid of her curse based on Alexandra’s information. 

Alcyone returns to Philomela’s quarters and notices her acting strange. After swallowing Chise’s gift, Philomela rips the alleged magic book out of Alcyone’s chest while Veronica is on the other side of her door and continues calling out to her. Chise senses the magic book and its user’s power and informs Ruth. Elias promises to chase after the user with Chise while Rian does so in the present. Philomela subdues Rian and senses a ton of magic power nearby. She tells Rian she’s always hated him and drains him of his power. Philomela wipes out some students and approaches Quillyn. Lucy and the others check on Rian who informs them that the magic book user is Philomela. 

The episode closes with Philomela asking Quillyn to let her out of the college so she can reunite with her family in Hell.  

The Episode Review

After some funny and wholesome slice-of-life scenarios, The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 appears to be taking things a bit more seriously. Gregory served as a great representation for the audience this week as many viewers started growing bored of this season’s aimless nature. Nevertheless, it’s compelling for the series to get back into the swing of things and finally reveal who the magic book user is. We can assume Lizbeth has something to do with Philomela’s descent into madness. 

It’s possible she or someone else placed a curse on Philomela, given how Philomela’s change of heart occurred alongside Alexandra’s “curse discussion” with Chise. At the same time, we witness Philomela reaching out to someone while being imprisoned. Therefore, it’s possible she was born with these dark powers. Whatever the case might be, we’re certain to receive a proper explanation about Philomela and her past life with Lizbeth and her family soon. 

Although our characters’ joyous experience is ruined due to Philomela’s actions, it’s nice to see Chise try to warm her friends’ spirits with amulets. Although times are tough, it’s great to have someone who is willing to make people’s days brighter in some form. Again, it’s a shame the Christmas party turned into a magic-draining gig by the episode’s conclusion.

Overall, this was another decent chapter of The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2. I’m thankful we’re shifting focus onto this season’s main problem again. Hopefully, the series can give fans a satisfying climax and resolution before we move on to the series’s next arc.