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Earl and Fairy
Episode eight opens in a very interesting way...
Our opening has Paul, the artist and the closest to a 'good guy' that the series has, waking up after a night of too much drinking. He honestly doesn't seem to be the type to indulge...but then, that's apparently not the only thing he indulged in. His covers move, and gradually reveal a lovely young woman with silver-grey hair, and large, unhappy eyes. As Paul gapes in that Morning After dismay, she begins to cry. When one tear falls from her face, it solidifies into a golden ball before reaching her dress.
...I'm guessing that she's /not/ human.
Meanwhile, Lydia is indulging the brownies of the Earl's castle. She's baked a huge bowl of cookies for them, while they play and dance all over her, eventually tripping her up so that they can steal a couple of handfuls of the treats. I like that the anime continues to add these touches: even the adorable and sweet little fairies are mischievous and clearly Not Tame. The beautiful merrow who will steal souls, the man-eating Kelpie, and even the brownies, they all give a sense that there's a reason why normal people need fairy doctors. It helps to justify Lydia's importance as a character, even now that Edgar has the sword, etc.
Anyway, another cookie is stolen, and Lydia spins to confront the thief...who happens to be Edgar, looking smug and cheerful. He's kinda confused by the cookie's taste, however; and no wonder, since the main ingredient is chamomile. He's also makes a play to get Lydia to wear the engagement ring again, to which she mutters that she's not engaged to him. Edgar reminds her that Kelpie shouldn't be allowed to hear that, to which she mentions that he's SURELY gone back to Scotland by now.
If you're expecting the next person to speak to be Kelpie, himself, you get a chamomile cookie. Yep, he's still hanging around, and offers, "If the Earl ever bothers you too much, I'll be happy to eat him for you." After all, he's willing to wait. He never said ANYTHING about giving up. In a display of hypocrisy which -- if there were any justice in the world -- have Edgar struck by lightning right there, the Earl chides Kelpie for playing with words. Then he emphasizes the fiancee point, just to get on his nerves. It works. Another interesting thing about Edgar's personality, and one of the things that makes Lydia's reluctance to believe him more reasonable: one gets the sense that, half the time, he flirts just because he really DOES enjoy messing with people's heads THAT MUCH. If he intends to get Lydia on his side for good, he'll have to watch that.
Lydia escapes the two of them, and goes to think by one of the fountains. She pulls out the ring, and is studying it. As always, when she's alone she's willing to acknowledge more feeling than when she's around Edgar; the walls really do come up around him. Her study is interrupted by...well, it seems to be a gnome, but she calls it a colbynau, and this little fellow is apparently the guardian/caretaker of the moonstone ring. He claims that the ring is happy because it has found its way to the consort of the Blue Knight Earl, to which Lydia is forced to make an embarrassed protest. Worse, the colbynau decides to 'help' (and what have we learned about fairies helping?) and puts the ring on her finger. Now it won't come off...only the Earl can remove it. And we all know how likely that is.
Speaking of! Edgar's reaction to the story is a beatific smile and a remark of, "You finally put it on!" After all, he remarks piously, not wearing the engagement ring is just like inviting fidelity. One can almost see him doing a gleeful little tapdance on Lydia's last nerve, as she tries to explain that the engagement was a ruse, damnit (but with less cussing). When the colbynau gets involved, things get very amusing, and we find out that Edgar has no intention of letting her weasel out of the engagement...he's planning to formally present her as his fiancee tonight to all the gentry of London.
Five maids. Lydia. And a corset. Enough said...except that Combat Butler Raven thinks she's being attacked from all the fussing, and jumps in. In revenge for seeing more of Lydia than HE has, Edgar reveals Raven's job for the night. Bodyguard duty, of course...but as a female friend of Lydia. In a dress. Yet again, Edgar is a Magnificent Bastard. Even Raven, long-suffering soul that he is, looks a little put out in his stoic way at this. I don't think Lydia helps, although she tries, by mentioning that he's prettier than she is.
Cut to the ball, and Raven looking pissed off with an open fan. Sadly, he IS damned pretty. Edgar has been thinking Politics again: he's actually invited all the fairies that have been dropping by to check him out as formal guests at the ball. Of course, nobody but Lydia can see them, but that doesn't stop food from disappearing almost out of the human guests' hands. Edgar has the charm turned up to eleven, and look, he's even invited Kelpie and had food specially prepared for him! It's a lovely, expensive block of pate...you know, liver...which, of course, poisons Kelpies. Lydia stops this little attempt at thinning the competition, and Edgar and Kelpie trade glares.
It's about this time that Paul finally wanders in, the strange, silver-haired girl at his side. Edgar takes them to a nice, private room. He's not happy with Paul... after all, you should /never/ tell a girl that you don't recognize them the morning after, no matter how drunk you were; a better solution is simply to quietly provide them with another man. One gets the feeling that he speaks from experience, here, and Paul is suitably appalled. Before the two men can get into a discussion on their comparative moral standings, they're distracted by the sound of her tears falling to the floor...apparently, they're turning to amber. Which is, of course, why Paul brought her here in the first place.
An interesting thing here; the girl claims that Edgar can't be the Blue Knight Earl. She feels no power from him. This is of course true, and also ticks him off. Worse, Lydia arrives on the scene and is more than a little confused to find a /banshee/ in Edgar's mansion. Worse and worst, they cry tears of amber whenever there's going to be a death in the family they originally came from...and this one apparently belongs (or belonged) to that of the Blue Knight Earl.
We're clearly ramping up for a major subplot here, and the bad news just keeps on coming. Everything associated with Paul's father has been destroyed or stolen, and one of the Prince's men is in England. Edgar reacts about as one expects him to; he battens down the hatches, pulling both Lydia and Paul close, and encouraging them to stay in the manor. This is something I've noticed before; for all his manipulative ways, Edgar seems to value 'his' people very highly. Originally, this only included Raven, but Lydia and then Paul have both apparently been granted access to the inner circle. A worrying facet of it, however; Lydia's father is still out and about on a scientific excursion. Lydia offers to solve the mystery of the banshee, but Edgar rejects this; he wants to be involved. He points out, reasonably, that if she's /not/ going to marry him, then he can't really count on her being there for the rest of his life as the Earl, in which case he needs to be able to solve things like this with his own abilities. Lydia protests, and...well, it's hard to tell if this is a genuine action or yet another play; but Edgar releases her from the ring, since she isn't willing to be his fiancee 'at this time'. This confuses Lydia...which may be the whole point.
I suspect that, if it is genuine, it has more to do with Edgar being reminded of the Prince. Although we know next to nothing about this guy, one gets the impression that he is a master manipulator, and also one who is cruel and very much about owning people, branding them with fire. With him showing up again, it may have pegged on Edgar that trapping Lydia with a ring she couldn't remove on her own is uncomfortably close to being trapped by a brand. That's just speculation on my end, however.
Lydia calls this one a draw, and retreats, only to run immediately into Kelpie, who pulls her into an embrace and proclaims that she'd be happier if she married him. He's actually trying to be comforting, and one gets the impression that Lydia /does/ have some sort of feelings for him, but Combat Butler Raven is REALLY not happy to find the two of them close like that. As in, out comes the knife and the glowing green eye of stabby death. Kelpie is...the first person Raven has faced who shows absolutely no fear, just a bit of interest that he can't control the sprite within himself. While easily dodging the superfast strikes, he remarks that if Lydia doesn't stop this, that Raven's sprite will sense Kelpie's power and drive the young man to fight until he dies. Suddenly, I think that Kelpie is a good deal more powerful than we've been led to believe so far...another interesting note; it's gotten across without saying that Kelpie is a lot /older/ than he looks. He may not be well socialized by human standards, but his reactions and such do come across as very old.
At Lydia's bidding, Kelpie bugs it out a window, and Raven calms down enough to ask her not to betray Edgar. Yeah, he noticed the feelings, too. Lydia may be the only one who hasn't. They argue briefly...but what's interesting is what /isn't/ said here. The plea may have a different source than just concern over his master; Raven is driven by the spirit within him. It will do anything to protect its master and as we just were reminded, he can't control it. I suspect that what Raven was /trying/ to say was that he was worried about the sprite trying to kill Lydia, but she didn't get it.
Interestingly, in the next scene, I think that Edgar does 'get it' when Raven briefly relays the situation. He points out that he wants Raven to protect Lydia for her own sake, as a friend...possibly short-circuiting that danger from the sprite. (Or, knowing Edgar's tendency to layer plans upon plans, to even set her up as Raven's next master if the Prince kills him.)
Oh, hey! We're finally back to Paul and the Banshee. For someone who got the opening scene, they've been awfully neglected. Paul carefully doesn't answer the question about whether Edgar is /really/ related to the Earl's family, and is rewarded by the fairy telling him that he smells nice. Apparently, oil and varnish is kinda sexy by her reckoning, which...hey, takes all kinds, right? Paul, adorable dork that he is, can only think of one real response: can he paint her portrait?
While he's off getting his sketchbook, a woman in man's clothing (important to mention, this being the 19th century), steps out of the shadows, and offers to take the banshee to 'her real master'. And she bears a /striking/ resemblance to Raven.
Of course, we end here. A solid enough episode, although it felt a little rushed; it's clearly a transition episode, trying to clean up the last subplot before leaping into this one with both feet. I'm looking forward to seeing the Prince, and what kind of fellow he is. I suspect that he's going to be an evil mirror of Edgar...he had to learn it from somewhere, right? If so, then having a female Raven (maybe even the sister of before) would be a nice parallel.
Our opening has Paul, the artist and the closest to a 'good guy' that the series has, waking up after a night of too much drinking. He honestly doesn't seem to be the type to indulge...but then, that's apparently not the only thing he indulged in. His covers move, and gradually reveal a lovely young woman with silver-grey hair, and large, unhappy eyes. As Paul gapes in that Morning After dismay, she begins to cry. When one tear falls from her face, it solidifies into a golden ball before reaching her dress.
...I'm guessing that she's /not/ human.
Meanwhile, Lydia is indulging the brownies of the Earl's castle. She's baked a huge bowl of cookies for them, while they play and dance all over her, eventually tripping her up so that they can steal a couple of handfuls of the treats. I like that the anime continues to add these touches: even the adorable and sweet little fairies are mischievous and clearly Not Tame. The beautiful merrow who will steal souls, the man-eating Kelpie, and even the brownies, they all give a sense that there's a reason why normal people need fairy doctors. It helps to justify Lydia's importance as a character, even now that Edgar has the sword, etc.
Anyway, another cookie is stolen, and Lydia spins to confront the thief...who happens to be Edgar, looking smug and cheerful. He's kinda confused by the cookie's taste, however; and no wonder, since the main ingredient is chamomile. He's also makes a play to get Lydia to wear the engagement ring again, to which she mutters that she's not engaged to him. Edgar reminds her that Kelpie shouldn't be allowed to hear that, to which she mentions that he's SURELY gone back to Scotland by now.
If you're expecting the next person to speak to be Kelpie, himself, you get a chamomile cookie. Yep, he's still hanging around, and offers, "If the Earl ever bothers you too much, I'll be happy to eat him for you." After all, he's willing to wait. He never said ANYTHING about giving up. In a display of hypocrisy which -- if there were any justice in the world -- have Edgar struck by lightning right there, the Earl chides Kelpie for playing with words. Then he emphasizes the fiancee point, just to get on his nerves. It works. Another interesting thing about Edgar's personality, and one of the things that makes Lydia's reluctance to believe him more reasonable: one gets the sense that, half the time, he flirts just because he really DOES enjoy messing with people's heads THAT MUCH. If he intends to get Lydia on his side for good, he'll have to watch that.
Lydia escapes the two of them, and goes to think by one of the fountains. She pulls out the ring, and is studying it. As always, when she's alone she's willing to acknowledge more feeling than when she's around Edgar; the walls really do come up around him. Her study is interrupted by...well, it seems to be a gnome, but she calls it a colbynau, and this little fellow is apparently the guardian/caretaker of the moonstone ring. He claims that the ring is happy because it has found its way to the consort of the Blue Knight Earl, to which Lydia is forced to make an embarrassed protest. Worse, the colbynau decides to 'help' (and what have we learned about fairies helping?) and puts the ring on her finger. Now it won't come off...only the Earl can remove it. And we all know how likely that is.
Speaking of! Edgar's reaction to the story is a beatific smile and a remark of, "You finally put it on!" After all, he remarks piously, not wearing the engagement ring is just like inviting fidelity. One can almost see him doing a gleeful little tapdance on Lydia's last nerve, as she tries to explain that the engagement was a ruse, damnit (but with less cussing). When the colbynau gets involved, things get very amusing, and we find out that Edgar has no intention of letting her weasel out of the engagement...he's planning to formally present her as his fiancee tonight to all the gentry of London.
Five maids. Lydia. And a corset. Enough said...except that Combat Butler Raven thinks she's being attacked from all the fussing, and jumps in. In revenge for seeing more of Lydia than HE has, Edgar reveals Raven's job for the night. Bodyguard duty, of course...but as a female friend of Lydia. In a dress. Yet again, Edgar is a Magnificent Bastard. Even Raven, long-suffering soul that he is, looks a little put out in his stoic way at this. I don't think Lydia helps, although she tries, by mentioning that he's prettier than she is.
Cut to the ball, and Raven looking pissed off with an open fan. Sadly, he IS damned pretty. Edgar has been thinking Politics again: he's actually invited all the fairies that have been dropping by to check him out as formal guests at the ball. Of course, nobody but Lydia can see them, but that doesn't stop food from disappearing almost out of the human guests' hands. Edgar has the charm turned up to eleven, and look, he's even invited Kelpie and had food specially prepared for him! It's a lovely, expensive block of pate...you know, liver...which, of course, poisons Kelpies. Lydia stops this little attempt at thinning the competition, and Edgar and Kelpie trade glares.
It's about this time that Paul finally wanders in, the strange, silver-haired girl at his side. Edgar takes them to a nice, private room. He's not happy with Paul... after all, you should /never/ tell a girl that you don't recognize them the morning after, no matter how drunk you were; a better solution is simply to quietly provide them with another man. One gets the feeling that he speaks from experience, here, and Paul is suitably appalled. Before the two men can get into a discussion on their comparative moral standings, they're distracted by the sound of her tears falling to the floor...apparently, they're turning to amber. Which is, of course, why Paul brought her here in the first place.
An interesting thing here; the girl claims that Edgar can't be the Blue Knight Earl. She feels no power from him. This is of course true, and also ticks him off. Worse, Lydia arrives on the scene and is more than a little confused to find a /banshee/ in Edgar's mansion. Worse and worst, they cry tears of amber whenever there's going to be a death in the family they originally came from...and this one apparently belongs (or belonged) to that of the Blue Knight Earl.
We're clearly ramping up for a major subplot here, and the bad news just keeps on coming. Everything associated with Paul's father has been destroyed or stolen, and one of the Prince's men is in England. Edgar reacts about as one expects him to; he battens down the hatches, pulling both Lydia and Paul close, and encouraging them to stay in the manor. This is something I've noticed before; for all his manipulative ways, Edgar seems to value 'his' people very highly. Originally, this only included Raven, but Lydia and then Paul have both apparently been granted access to the inner circle. A worrying facet of it, however; Lydia's father is still out and about on a scientific excursion. Lydia offers to solve the mystery of the banshee, but Edgar rejects this; he wants to be involved. He points out, reasonably, that if she's /not/ going to marry him, then he can't really count on her being there for the rest of his life as the Earl, in which case he needs to be able to solve things like this with his own abilities. Lydia protests, and...well, it's hard to tell if this is a genuine action or yet another play; but Edgar releases her from the ring, since she isn't willing to be his fiancee 'at this time'. This confuses Lydia...which may be the whole point.
I suspect that, if it is genuine, it has more to do with Edgar being reminded of the Prince. Although we know next to nothing about this guy, one gets the impression that he is a master manipulator, and also one who is cruel and very much about owning people, branding them with fire. With him showing up again, it may have pegged on Edgar that trapping Lydia with a ring she couldn't remove on her own is uncomfortably close to being trapped by a brand. That's just speculation on my end, however.
Lydia calls this one a draw, and retreats, only to run immediately into Kelpie, who pulls her into an embrace and proclaims that she'd be happier if she married him. He's actually trying to be comforting, and one gets the impression that Lydia /does/ have some sort of feelings for him, but Combat Butler Raven is REALLY not happy to find the two of them close like that. As in, out comes the knife and the glowing green eye of stabby death. Kelpie is...the first person Raven has faced who shows absolutely no fear, just a bit of interest that he can't control the sprite within himself. While easily dodging the superfast strikes, he remarks that if Lydia doesn't stop this, that Raven's sprite will sense Kelpie's power and drive the young man to fight until he dies. Suddenly, I think that Kelpie is a good deal more powerful than we've been led to believe so far...another interesting note; it's gotten across without saying that Kelpie is a lot /older/ than he looks. He may not be well socialized by human standards, but his reactions and such do come across as very old.
At Lydia's bidding, Kelpie bugs it out a window, and Raven calms down enough to ask her not to betray Edgar. Yeah, he noticed the feelings, too. Lydia may be the only one who hasn't. They argue briefly...but what's interesting is what /isn't/ said here. The plea may have a different source than just concern over his master; Raven is driven by the spirit within him. It will do anything to protect its master and as we just were reminded, he can't control it. I suspect that what Raven was /trying/ to say was that he was worried about the sprite trying to kill Lydia, but she didn't get it.
Interestingly, in the next scene, I think that Edgar does 'get it' when Raven briefly relays the situation. He points out that he wants Raven to protect Lydia for her own sake, as a friend...possibly short-circuiting that danger from the sprite. (Or, knowing Edgar's tendency to layer plans upon plans, to even set her up as Raven's next master if the Prince kills him.)
Oh, hey! We're finally back to Paul and the Banshee. For someone who got the opening scene, they've been awfully neglected. Paul carefully doesn't answer the question about whether Edgar is /really/ related to the Earl's family, and is rewarded by the fairy telling him that he smells nice. Apparently, oil and varnish is kinda sexy by her reckoning, which...hey, takes all kinds, right? Paul, adorable dork that he is, can only think of one real response: can he paint her portrait?
While he's off getting his sketchbook, a woman in man's clothing (important to mention, this being the 19th century), steps out of the shadows, and offers to take the banshee to 'her real master'. And she bears a /striking/ resemblance to Raven.
Of course, we end here. A solid enough episode, although it felt a little rushed; it's clearly a transition episode, trying to clean up the last subplot before leaping into this one with both feet. I'm looking forward to seeing the Prince, and what kind of fellow he is. I suspect that he's going to be an evil mirror of Edgar...he had to learn it from somewhere, right? If so, then having a female Raven (maybe even the sister of before) would be a nice parallel.
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