Wandering Witch #03 — Prime Directive

October 16th, 2020

 

With great power comes total indifference to human suffering and death.

I'm usually a little quicker on Fridays, but my morning was eaten by getting stuck waiting two hours to have a car battery changed.

Impressions:

This is where I part ways with the show, but I feel like this episode should be commented on. It was split into two segments with the theme of both being "look at how deep and insightful we are by showing people suffering." And like when Kino came across a lawless town of serial killers and responded to it with a shrug, it's more a commentary on how the protagonist here is a sociopath than anything else. Let's start with the second half, since it's far more banal. She stays with a family where it's clear a girl is being abused and basically enslaved. She covers for her once and then shrugs her shoulders, skips town, and thinks to herself "Showing her that other people are better off might drive her to kill herself. Welp. Not my problem. Whatever." You made it your problem once already. You spent an entire episode pissing around with some girl who felt lonely, but you see someone being abused in front of your face, and now you're Miss Prime Directive? Excuse me, what?

And then there's the first half. She delivers some flowers to the city for a girl in a field, but it turns out that's some magical pitcher plant's hallucinatory poison, and so she just flys off with a "Takes all kinds" as the entire city she just helped infect with a deadly plague dies. You not only had the power to stop this or at least warn them, you were at least a small cause of an entire city worth of people dying. You helped cause this horrible tragedy. With great power comes great responsibility. "I'm just a traveler. Seeya," does not cut it! Flying off into the sunset, patting yourself on the back while the city burns behind you which you had a hand in causing is how I expect episodes of things like Milky Holmes or Archer to end. 

  

Posted in Elaina | 3 Comments »

3 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • anise_punter says:
    October 17, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    If the lead is an actual sociopath and this just keeps happening that’s a way more entertaining show than whatever I thought this show was going to do.

  • arknoir says:
    October 19, 2020 at 4:31 am

    I can see those harsh lessons in episode 1 she got from the trippy witch via parents have given such a humble attitude and put her in good stead for the journey.

    ffs.

  • Anonymous says:
    October 25, 2020 at 12:33 am

    Why needlessly anthologize the city guard? bit drunk on witchy privilege?

    The girl in the field had her legs hidden the whole time so I assumed she was some plant monster trying to talk travelers into smuggling her flowers, the gas mask looking guard masks made me think it was mind controlling pollen and few minutes in I was proven correct(it was not pollen but hypnosis). The fact that elaina did not consider any of these things makes me think her powers have made her journey free of all worries, contrast that with Kino who on her journey constantly had to think about stuff like this. While she did get detained I wondered if the person walking right past her with a big load had a whole backpack of flowers but I guess not and they want with the dumber zombies walk to town with flowers in hand. There not being a big board at the city gate saying “no flowers” or better guard system is so that it can look more like story tale or something. could have had it well guarded but have her fly over a wall because she was feeling lazy and did not want to use the main gate,etc stuff that would cause it to turn into a real ep instead of a 5m skit.

    Kinos thing was respecting the internal culture because she often could not do anything about it and she acknowledged that as a traveler who was in town for few days she did not have the insight into situations/working alternative or desire to shoulder the responsibility for the outcome. That was all for people that stayed but like when she herself got saved from crappy culture of her town I suspect she too would move for the sake of an individual she found worthy.

    Kino did not have magic powers to burn down the field of flowers or long distance magic to perhaps free the guy, drag him away without risking herself. I mean from a certain point of view Elaina got that guy killed and while not having her beat her chest is refreshing and aknolagment of the fact would have been nice beyond :l expression under the hood.
    The whole thing took like 6-7 minutes of screen time where half a minute went into Elaina at an inn thinking about how this whole mind controlling flower thing sounds like a story she read ask a kid where for “some reason” a flower mutated,gained sapience and started draining mana out of non witchy people, so basically you got same exposition twice.

    as for the guy that died, we learn that he has/had a sister and is a city guard. Since no time was devoted to him I also felt nothing about his death and I doubt it was a clever trick to make us feel a detachment of a traveler. It might have worked slightly better if as a witch she was not immune and had been spared by the plant so she could play her role but then they could not have her find the city guard. I dont know, at least say its immune to direct magical attacks (there would be way around it but at least it would be something)

    second half. I guess in another story the guy would find out dad was molesting the servant (which he was in this story) and kill him but in a twist of irony turn out to be another asshole himself. perhaps that will be the outcome eventually part for now both dad and kid are halfwit molehill kings. It clear the kid does not see the servant as person, more like a pet and he will turn cruel if she falls out of favor with him.

    Whole painter story was indeed dumb. I guess a version that makes sense but would not fit here and is also played out would be if while he was chasing pictures to show she killed herself because she was all alone in the house for months on end. I dont know, the show is original in a way but I feel like Im getting one flavor of dumb instead of another.