Reign of the Seven Spellblades – 05 – Under the Skin

Oliver’s shadow, Carste, is extremely contrite about not being by his side when a Garuda attacked, but I can’t rule out that his brother hung him out to dry on purpose to test his mettle. Katie’s gentle treatment of the troll has him eating again, and Vera Milligan is very intrigued by her progress with the big guy.

Of course, it was fairly clear she was behind the Garuda attack owing to the shot of someone with identical hair at the end of last week’s ep. There’s also what amounts to a spoiler in the OP that was there all along of Vera looking sinister in front of some very foreboding vats in some kind of lab. That image haunts sweet Katie’s steps.

On the bright side of things, the bullying of Katie has ceased overnight, and Nanao is super-popular for her flashy fight with the Garuda. Katie resents that Oliver, whom it’s clear she has a little thing for, isn’t getting the same rewards. A playful Chela decides to give him one in the form of a “victory kiss”.

Before her lips reach his face, Nanao appears beside them, and when she hears of a victory kiss, she doesn’t hesitate giving Oliver one, much to Katie’s scandilization. Nanao even has Oliver about to kiss her back when his pretty older cousin stops by to say hi…and steal a kiss of her own.

Poor Katie…so much competition for her guy! For that matter, poor Guy and Pete, in whom no girls seem interested…

I’m glad this series hasn’t abandoned the occasional magical class sequence. We see the aftermath of a particularly bloody biology class in which garms and wargs are dissected (I’m surprised Katie went along with it), and we also have Grenville, the alchemy teacher, doing his best Severus Snape impression.

Unlike Snape, Grenville doesn’t mock Oliver when he comes to each and every classmate’s aid when they screw up the alchemy process, including and overconfident Pete who almost blew himself up. While Grenville’s praise is delivered with his usual dour surliness, it’s genuine praise, and Oliver’s friends congratulate him for finally getting some public props.

However, Oliver’s new frenemy Mr. Andrews gives him a friendly warning after class not to trust Grenville, who is infamous for inviting his favorite students to alchemy gatherings, then stealing their ideas and passing them off on his own. I’m more inclined to think Oliver will infiltrate Grenville’s little clique on purpose to gather more intel on Kimberly.

Richard also gets his friend (toadie?) Miss Mackley to own up to what she did during the parade in town. It was she who cast a spell Katie to make her legs run toward the troll. She’s sorry about that, and seems sincere enough, but she insists she didn’t cast a spell to drive the troll crazy. Oliver and Chela believe her. There must’ve been second spell-user.

Katie, who continues to show she’s far tougher than she looks, tables discussion of who did what to the troll, and decides to hang out with the troll more. To her surprise, he starts to speak, telling her o stay away from him, not because he doesn’t like her, but for her own good. Hiding behind a wall is an increasingly sinister-looking Vera.

While Oliver helps Nanao some fire and wind magic training, having her imagine the outside world and her body becoming one and such, Nanao says something that turns on a light bulb in Oliver’s head. At the time of the incident, Nanao didn’t think the troll was rampaging, but trying to escape to the school gates.

Oliver puts what he knows together and they rush to the troll enclosure to find Katie missing, and her athame on the ground. The troll tells them she was taken somewhere deep and dark—the Labyrinth.

Oliver and Nanao find a dark, abandoned classroom amidst Kimberly’s vast halls, go through a magic mirror into the Labyrinth, but he stops when they reach a point that will be too dangerous without upperclassmen support. Unfortunately, the one they’re pursuing already knows they’re there, and magically teleports them into her lab.

There, Vera makes no bones about her intentions: she is a demi-human rights activist who experiments on demi-humans in order to make them capable of human speech and intelligence, so they can one day join society. Fine ends, but far from fine means. She’s basically a mad scientist, and the very entities she claims to care about are her victims.

The troll wanted to get away from her, but with Katie, Vera believes she has the key to completing his development. To use that key, Vera wants to dissect Katie’s brain. She implies it will be a painless procedure and leave no scars, so I assume Katie won’t die, but still…this is really freakin’ bad and wrong!

When Nanao turns her hair white and rushes at Vera without assessing the situation, Vera reveals that the eye under her bangs is that of a basilisk, able to petrify anyone with her glare. Five of her siblings died before it chose her, demonstrating that some magical families are more barbaric than others.

But while her harsh, violent upbringing explains her motivations, it doesn’t justify her actions. Oliver and Nanao need to save Katie, or at least buy time for an upperclassman to help them out. But Vera is determined to perform her experiments and neutralize anyone who would stop her.

7 Spellblades continues to provide engrossing, satisfying storytelling, mystery weaving, and character and world building. One week Andrews does a face turn, the next Vera does a heel turn. These developments expertly keep the audience on its toes, while underscoring the danger of Kimberly contrasted with the cozy camaraderie of the friend group.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades – 04 – Comrades In Arms

Thanks to her new senpai Vera, Katie is able to interact with the troll from the parade, and even work to gain its trust. But Vera can’t shield Katie from the barbs and snide comments from other students. Oliver and Nanao are preparing for an inevitable duel against Richard Andrews, but the bullying of Katie by their classmates becomes so bad that Oliver rises to their provocations and starts a fight. Nanao and Guy have his back.

Unfortunately we don’t get to see the bullies get their just desserts, but Oliver, Nanao, and Guy end up in detention cells. When Katie blames herself for not standing up to the bullies, Oliver rejects that; he started the fight, so this is his fault, not hers. She did nothing wrong.

Nevertheless, Chela notes that their little circle of friends is on an island now, with the rest of the first-years (mostly hoity-toity, anti-demi conservatives) hating their guts. This is confirmed when they’re led to the site of the duel with Andrews, and it’s a coliseum packed with hostile students.

Before their official duel begins, an “exhibition fight” commences, with Andrews demonstrating his prowess in the sword arts by slaughtering some kobolds (werewolf-like creatures). While our friends are disgusted by the spectacle, especially when handlers force a scared kobold to return to the arena, Nanao gives them a piece of her mind, calling the whole crowd scum. For this, she gets pelted by glass bottles.

When a Garuda, a high-level beast that Andrews didn’t at all expect to appear, appears, students are battered and bloodied in quick succession, to Andrews’ horror and panic. But it’s Nanao who finally stands up to the monster and crosses blades with it. She had no interest in fighting a rigged “duel” with Andrews, but this is a battle more her speed: one in which she must put her life on the line.

She does a decent job keeping up with the Garuda, the fact remains she alone is outmatched, so Oliver joins the battle…and quickly gets slashed across the midsection. When he retreats to heal himself, a cowering Andrews asks him how he and Nanao can fight the Garuda without fear. ‘

Oliver tells him he is scared, because he’s an ordinary person, but Nanao, a warrior, probably isn’t scared at all, so he needs to keep her from going too far and getting killed. As he gets up and returns to the arena, he tells Andrews that Nanao wanted to see how he fought too.

Back in action, Oliver tells Nanao he’ll give her an opening to make the kill, but things go a little pear-shaped. Oliver has to end up getting between Nanao and the Garuda, and very nearly meets his end, were it not for Richard Andrews, using his high-level wind magic to blast the Garuda away. It’s a triumphant moment, and I hope his new understanding of Oliver and Nanao will trickle down to the other privileged students.

This creates the opening Nanao needs, and she spares no voracity in beheading the Garuda. Once it finally falls defeated, Oliver is the first one to thank Richard, who admits that while he was scared of the Garuda, he was more scared of being seen as an embarrassment to his clan. Both Nanao and Oliver acknowledge the courage he showed by standing his ground, and when Oliver lends him a hand up, Andrews takes it.

From that point on, Richard is no longer Nanao and Oliver’s enemy, but they are all of them comrades-in-arms. Of course, Nanao was pretty badly slashed in her fight with the Garuda, so she needs to be patched up. But as Richard takes his leave, Chela also thanks her childhood friend, addressing him as Rick, and notes how long it’s been since she’s seen “how wonderful he can be”.

All’s well that ends well. I’m glad this wasn’t just as simple as the good guys beating the bad guys in a duel, but things going out of control and the good and bad guys working together to end the threat, resulting in a welcome face turn for Andrews.

As for the mysterious student who is loitering around the coliseum after everyone has left, I presume they’re the same person who sent Katie flying towards the troll, and perhaps the next significant threat to Oliver and his friends. The silver hair has me suspecting it’s Vera, which would certainly be a blow to Katie.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades – 03 – A New Way to Live

Ophelie and Cyrus could probably achieve terrible things together if they joined forces, but each finds the other’s methods (her promiscuity, his necromancy) repugnant, so they fight each other with huge summoned monsters. Ophelie actually gives birth to hers; judging from her ahegao she seems to get a kick out of doing so.

When Cyrus blocks the underclassmen with his wall of bones, Nanao arrives to give them cover to escape. She also makes it sounds like she’s been looking for a place to die, and has found one. Oliver is ready to follow her into battle when Ophelie and Cyrus’ duel is cut short by the student body president, Alvin Godfrey.

Backed up by school prefect Carlos Whitlow, Alvin orders the two villains-in-training back to the depths of the Labyrinth, and escorts our first-years to safety.

Once there, Oliver gets in Nanao’s face and asks her what all the suicidal talk is about. Chela pulls him away, but is just as curious to know what’s up with Nanao, so she asks her to please tell them all if she can. That’s when Nanao looks back to the last and worst battle she ever experienced.

Even with a seemingly hopeless deficit in numbers, Nanao is able to easily carve her way to the enemy general, and dispatches his son, who was purportedly one of the finest warriors in the land, before she even knew it was him.

When the general orders his armies to kill her without learning her name, their spears are suddenly stopped dead…by a western mage on a broom. He invites Nanao to Kimberly, and here she is. But ever since being plucked from that battle—and from her certain death—Nanao has felt like she’s strayed into a dream.

When Nanao fought Oliver in class, she experienced shiawase, a moment of clarity and shared admiration and respect when locked in mortal combat with an opponent. But the battle was cut short, and Oliver pushed her away. Attempting to join the battle with the upperclassmen was her way of ending that dream on her own terms, before it ended on its own, worse terms.

Oliver thinks Katie is speaking out of turn when she says that, basically, Nanao is saying she’s heartbroken after Oliver rejected her entreaty of love and happiness (i.e. shiawase). But Nanao admits that yes, whether she fell for Oliver the person or his sword, to a warrior like her, there’s little difference.

This is when Chela asks Nanao, as a friend, to consider living her life in a new and different way than she did before. One need not cover themselves in blood or glory to thrive at Kimberly. Chela wants to spend more time with Nanao, and all of the others feel the same way. Indeed, it was clear Oliver was only upset with Nanao because he thought she was being too reckless with her life.

When everyone else chimes in agreeing with Chela, Nanao bows her head in apology and vows not to put her life in danger again. She also admits she’s happy she has friends at this school, since she hasn’t been able to learn much of anything in the classes so far. They all agree to help and support one another. If any dangers cross their paths, they’ll face them together.

It’s the Oliver-and-Nanao making up scene I’d hoped for at the end of last week, but I won’t knock the show for interrupting it to demonstrate how dangerous the school can be when our first-years are fractured. The next morning, Nanao clings to Oliver, who is both embarrassed and flattered. I love the varied reactions from the others to what is basically a newly formed couple.

Back in Garland’s Sword Arts class, Richard Andrews isn’t done with Oliver, and wants to fight him one-on-one. Oliver agrees, but before they get started Nanao grabs his arm, sensing he intends to lose on purpose. When Richard hears this he gets even more angry. Thus Oliver needs to give it his all to satisfy Nanao, and not humiliate Richard into desperation.

Chela takes Oliver aside to tell him she and Richard were childhood friends, always compared to each other by their elders, hence Richard’s inferiority complex. She’s not entirely sure how Oliver should proceed, only that some kind of fight is inevitable.

This dilemma is interrupted by news that Katie has rushed to the defense of the troll who went on a rampage at the parade. It’s about to be executed by faculty member Darius Grenville, but she stands fast in his path. Unamused by her insolence, when he learns she’s a “civil rights activist” he mocks her parents.

When she refuses to step aside, he uses an extreme pain spell on her, cementing his status as a real sonofabitch. Her friends come to her rescue, and thankfully don’t have to fight Grenville, as he’s told to stand down by fourth-year Vera Milligan, backed up by Professor Garland.

They inform Grenville that not only is there an ongoing investigation that demands the troll stay alive for now, and that it wouldn’t do to anger the growing pro-demi civil rights political faction, but the use of pain spells by faculty were banned five years ago.

Vera formally introduces herself to Katie as a fellow pro-demi advocate, and tells her she’ll be happy to help her in her efforts going forward as they share the same cause. Even though she’s still feeling the effects of the pain spell, Katie leaves the confrontation with a big smile on her face, having found a strong, cool upperclassman ally.

While the good vibes are somewhat marred by an inevitable duel challenge from Richard to Oliver, I still enjoyed this episode immensely from start to finish. Oliver and Nanao made up and may be an item, and we learned that Kimberly isn’t just a school full of perverts and assholes outside of the friend circle. In Alvin, Carlos, and Vera, there are good seeds looking after them too.

It’s a testament to the character writing that Garland’s explanation of the titular Spellblades (there are apparently only six of them at the moment) is the least interesting part of the episode. I’m sure they’ll come into play soon and a seventh will emerge, but for now I care more about these lovable kids.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades – 02 – What Lies Beyond That Moment

The first years’ classes commence, starting with sword arts (the offline kind). I did notice that instead of wands, our wizard analogues are running around with little daggers. Thanks to Pete wanting to show off his knowledge, we learn they’re called athames.

Professor Garland decides the best way for kids to learn is by doing, so he asks for volunteers to have a little friendly duel. Nanao’s hand is the first to go up, followed by Richard Andrews, clearly one of the old money kids who is full of himself.

Oliver takes exception to Andrews dueling Nanao, and makes it known that he helped Nanao bring down the troll while Richard and others stood by and did nothing. Chela does Oliver a solid and volunteers to duel Andrews so Oliver can duel Nanao.

We know two things going into this duel: First, Nanao has fought so many battles she’s covered in scars (and kudos for Oliver’s gaze last week focusing on those scars and not the usual body parts). She killed before, and not just one or two people. Not even one or two dozen.

Second: Oliver is pretty decent with magic, and he’s also secretly a big deal, or his brother wouldn’t be having him tailed. Between his magic and her swordsmanship, the duel ends up being quite a spectacle. The episode does a really cool visual trick of having Oliver see Nanao in full battle regalia as she slashes at him.

When Oliver sees tears in Nanao’s eyes, he suddenly feels awful for even thinking about holding back against her. He decides to commit himself entirely to the battle, as she is. Then Garland stops them, because broke the anti-lethality spell he placed on their blades.

Chela retracts her challenge of Andrews, who is perfectly willing to not have his ass handed to him by an ojou-sama with drill ringlets. Oliver leaves class in a hurry, but Nanao catches up, elated over how exciting and fun their duel was. She just wishes they’d been able to finish.

Nanao wanted to see “what lies beyond that moment” when they were forced to stop, but to her shock, Oliver angrily refuses to ever fight her again. When she asks way, he says he doesn’t owe her a reason, but he doesn’t want to kill her, or be killed by her.

The next day, the gang is together for lunch after spellology (oy) class, whose instructor abhors athames as medieval. Notably, Oliver and Nanao are as physically distant from one another and not facing each other. But classes roll on, like magical biology with the shark-toothed Vanessa Aldiss

Aldiss makes it clear to all the bleeding-heart magical animal lovers in the class that in her class, living things are resources to be exploited to improve their magic. This sucks for Katie. The teacher provides them with live magical silkworms and tells them to create cocoons. If they fail, the cocoons turn black and deadly moths emerge that must be incinerated.

Once again, Chela, who is an ace at this, helps Oliver out by helping Nanao out with her magic, since she can tell there’s something going on that hasn’t been resolved yet. Poor Katie takes extra time to ensure her silkworms don’t suffer, but her final cocoon fails, and the moth bites her.

Oliver and Chela kill the moth for Katie, and their teacher docks points for helping her. Oliver takes Katie to the infirmary to get her wound tended to. While he appreciates that Katie came from a wonderful, caring upbringing that respected creatures great and small, he also gives her a gentle warning that she can’t be an “angel” in a place like Kimberly.

That said, he also makes it clear she’s not alone in her struggle. She has him to lean on, and he then opens the door and all the others spill out into the room. I really appreciate how this show has so quickly endeared me to these characters, all of whom are good kids.

The fact remains, however, that we’re not quite sure what Oliver’s whole deal is. All I know for sure is that when Miss Carste informs him that she’ll be leaving his side temporarily to meet with his brother, it felt like a sign Oliver would end up in trouble with no covert ninja agent to back him up.

That night at dinner, Katie is just mentioning that Nanao seems out of sorts about something when Pete says he needs to go grab a book he left in a classroom. Oliver and Chela decide to go with him and brook no argument: the school, which doubles as a castle, isn’t safe after dark.

Specifically, the giant labyrinth beneath it starts to encroach on the upper levels. I like how subtly and suddenly the once cozy, opulent school halls take on the dark and sinister look of a dungeon. But Chela and Oliver insist that they’ll be okay: faculty and upperclassmen patrol the school at night.

Unfortunately, the trio comes across two of the less savory members of the upperclassmen, starting with fourth-year Ophelie Salvadori. Her body secretes pheromones that can put others in her thrall. Oliver and Chela are magically gifted enough to resist it; Pete can’t.

When they try to make a speedy getaway from Ophelie’s clutches, their path is blocked by a fence of bones summoned by fifth-year Cyrus Rivermore, who is in cahoots with Ophelie. I expected Oliver and Nanao would make up by episode’s end, but we end on a cliffhanger, with Oliver, Chela, and Pete having more pressing issues afoot.