The Ancient Magus’ Bride – Season 2 Episode 5 Recap & Review

First Impressions are the most lasting

Episode 5 of The Ancient Magus Bride Season 2 begins with Chise entering her college dorm and spotting Lucy on the phone with someone. After discussing a few things with each other, Lucy heads to pharmacology class. Chise bumps into Jasmine, and they walk to class together. Jasmine discusses Chise’s current relationship with Lucy.

Jasmine mentions Lucy’s not easy to get along with, considering the Webster Tragedy incident. Jasmine doesn’t elaborate on the incident and rushes to class, leaving Chise to wonder what she’s talking about. Rian helps Chise clean up her tools after class and walks with her. Chise and Rian bump into Zoe and his friend Isaac. Zoe leaves to eat in his room to avoid Chise.

Isaac confirms he’s been teaching Zoe things on the side and also informs Chise about the Seven Shields. They’re seven distinguished families that founded the College. These seven families built this College to safeguard against sorcery because many mages and sorcerers died in a war.

Isaac tells Chise she shouldn’t get involved with any of them. Rian confirms his family (Scrimgeour) produced a lot of gifted sorcerers who’d become protectors. Chise asks the two about the Webster Tragedy. Rian shows concern but doesn’t answer Chise’s question.

After lunch, Chise encounters Lucy and Zoe. Zoe hesitates to interact with Chise again, so Lucy grabs his headphones and tells him to pay attention to Chise. Zoe says he doesn’t want to speak with Chise because he believes she’s a monster. Rian and Isaac stumble upon our trio and notice Zoe’s hair has transformed into lots of snakes.

Zoe flees from everyone, so Chise has Ruth chase after him. Isaac tells the others that Zoe’s headphones are earmuffs. Zoe has hypersensitive hearing and can’t filter out auditory information by themselves. Chise and Isaac leave to find Zoe.

Lucy and Rian get into an argument, but Rian convinces Lucy to follow them since she’s partially to blame for Zoe’s uproar. Lucy follows the trio. We learn Zoe is a Gorgon, a monster of Greek mythology. These beasts are treated with open arms, but in the past people used to hunt them. Gorgons can’t speak with humans due to their vocal range, and if they make eye contact with anyone, they can immobilize them.

They find Zoe in the private gardens, and Lucy places his earmuffs back on and apologizes. He also shares intel about his past with the others. He was born from an egg, is unusually affected by light, and is sensitive to smells. He’s attending College based on a recommendation from his father and because he wants to get used to being outdoors.

Chise shows the group her pitch-black arm and informs them about her dragon curse. Zoe confirms that Gorgons’ ancestors were dragons and wonders if that’s the reason why he got riled up when he saw Chise. He tells Lucy that he’s not here to become a sorcerer.

After Rian suggests forging a contract spell to keep Zoe’s Gorgon’s nature a secret, they hear something in the distance. Chise checks it out and finds Ruth and Philomela. Ruth says Philomela’s been eavesdropping on their conversation. Rian and the others head toward Chise.

Rian confirms Philomela’s family specializes in intelligence and says she’s his second cousin. Philomela confirms she overheard their conversation about Chise’s curse and Zoe’s Gorgon roots.

Philomela promises not to tell anyone, but Rian suggests the contract spell. It’ll cause severe damage to your body if you try sharing information. Chise requests Philomela not to tell anyone about Zoe’s Gorgon roots. After the spell, Zoe apologizes to Chise for ignoring her. Lucy tells Philomela she doesn’t trust her because people like her killed her family. Rian meets up with Jasmine and tells her she shouldn’t have mentioned the Webster Tragedy to her. Rian leaves. The episode closes with an intimate moment between Jasmine and Violet.

The Episode Review

This chapter of The Ancient Magus’ Bride has us returning to the college to learn more about our side characters, specifically Zoe. It gives us intel as to why he’s been avoiding Chise and shows him apologizing to her for his behavior. Although we don’t receive too much information about Zoe’s past, many will find his upbringing and Gorgon’s roots fascinating as it helps build up this anime’s world.

The mystery surrounding Lucy’s family’s demise will pique the viewer’s interest too. It appears Philomela’s people had a role to play in Lucy’s tragic past, so many may wonder what the anime will have Lucy and Philomela do to tighten their bond. Whether it’s placing them in a dangerous situation or having them talk things out, I’m looking forward to seeing these two receive great development.

On that note, I question if Isaac may wind up telling people about Chise or Zoe. During the spell, he kind of tumbled toward the ground, alluding to his exclusion from the contract spell. While he doesn’t look or act like the type of person who’d deceive his comrades (so far), there’s always a chance something or someone may persuade him to cough up intel.

Overall, this was a great episode of The Ancient Magus’ Bride’s second season. It gives our new side characters more screen time and gives us some things to speculate about moving forward. I’m looking forward to seeing what other mysteries or unveiling this show has in store for its audience.