It’s finally time for Athanasia to debut herself. Our princess has done nothing but fret and worry over her big day, so it has to go well, right? Meanwhile, Duke What’s-his-face gives Jennette the impression that she’ll finally be able to connect with both her father and her sister at the ball. But it’s not her father nor her sister. I’m all for bashing Claude whenever he’s being a deadbeat, but I also gotta be fair when the time calls for it. And while I’ve been clamoring for Athanasia to make a female friend her age, this isn’t the right time for it. Most of all, this whole scheme feels ill-conceived right from the get-go. If Duke What’s-his-face really wanted to exert his influence over the emperor, why do it now during Athanasia’s debut? If you’re telling me I have a long lost sister, I wouldn’t want to meet her at a fancy-ass ball in front of a bunch of strangers. I’d want to meet her privately. Yeah, I know the same thing happened in the previous timeline, and it happened successfully. But the circumstances then were different. Claude didn’t adore that Athanasia. He adores this one. It seems kinda stupid to try and rob the spotlight from the person the emperor loves and cherishes the most. To put it in simpler terms, read the damn room.
I don’t have much to say about Athanasia’s dance with her father. It’s a dance. Woo. She messes up once, but Claude covers up for it by deftly lifting his daughter up. That probably wasn’t a dance move she could prepare for in practice. I’m too far removed from this world to appreciate its customs and practices. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever want to experience something like this for myself. Instead, I feel like an alien watching humans interact from afar. “How quaint…”
After the big dance is over, Claude tells Athanasia to mingle with people her own age. See? That’s what I’m saying! Even the deadbeat father agrees with me! Go make friends, you lil’ shut-in. If you think about it, that’s what she is. Just sitting in her gilded palace, practicing magic and stuffing herself silly with cake all day long. Well, Athanasia does end up talking to some girls, but they’re just vapidly complimenting her. No one’s trying to connect with the princess beyond a surface level. On the other end of the gender spectrum, the boys aren’t any better. They simply want to dance with her. Well, no can do, because Ijikiel suddenly shows up and starts throwing his weighty status around. Oh no, we can’t compete with Duke What’s-his-face’s son! Meanwhile, in her head, Athanasia is only really concerned about one thing: that things will play out the same way that they did in the previous timeline. Again, the circumstances are different…
At this point, Duke What’s-his-face makes his move, and I’m sorta buying his argument. Nevertheless, it’s an argument he has tried and failed to make over and over before: Athanasia needs friends her own age. Remember how he wanted to introduce Athanasia to his son Ijikiel? She fought against it back then, but now she’s dancing with him at the ball. So if she would just meet Jennette, they would probably become fast friends if not besties since they have so much in common. Unfortunately, Claude is both too wary of Duke What’s-his-face and also distracted by a mysterious masked man. Yo, who let this chump crash the princess’s party? Security? After the masked man slips away in the darkness, Claude proceeds to make my other argument, i.e. this isn’t the right time, bro. Give it a rest, bro. Duke What’s-his-face really needs to step his Machiavellian game up. He kinda sucks at this. It seems like he only succeeded in the previous timeline because Claude was a mentally broken deadbeat through and through.
Even though Duke What’s-his-face’s schemes are falling apart, Athanasia still plays her trump card, so she gathers everyone’s attention and summons forth a projection of her dear mother. The projection is apparently tangible enough that Claude can even dance with his late wife. That’s really fancy magic for someone who could barely levitate a potato just a few years ago. To top it all off, Athanasia then hops onto a piano and starts jammin’. All this just to impress her father. All this just for her coming-of-age to ultimately be all about Claude, Claude, Claude. You gotta hand it to her for working so hard at, well, everything. Dancing, magic, piano, etc. Nevertheless, this all just feels so… one-sided. At this ball, Athanasia wants to be the daughter that Claude can be proud of! At this ball, Duke What’s-his-face wants to get his foot in the door and start influencing Claude! At this ball, Jennette wants to finally meet her (not) father Claude! It even feels like the masked man is only here to troll Claude! The only major character who seemingly doesn’t give two shits about our special little emperor is, well, Ijikiel. He’s too preoccupied with Claude’s offspring instead.
This entire time, Jennette has been hiding out in a room all by her lonesome. This is no doubt Duke What’s-his-face’s doing. Instead of waiting for the perfect moment, he could’ve had Jennette out on the floor, mingling with the rest of high society and chatting it up. Y’know, making connections, forging bonds, etc. Maybe she would’ve even made a friend or two. She also could’ve bumped into Athanasia or shared a dance with Ijikiel. Instead, Duke What’s-his-face fell flat on his face (had to do it), and ruined the girl’s whole night. I can’t help but feel bad for Jennette. She’s just a lonely and abandoned girl looking for any sort of love and companionship. Instead, she’s nothing more than a pawn in both timelines. And rather than overcoming her fears, i.e. that scary dream, Athanasia is content to keep Jennette at arm’s distance for now.
But hey, this has been the perfect night for Athansia. She pretty much got everything she wanted. Claude even gifts her a ribbon as a birthday present, but the real prize is the handwritten note that comes with it. The ribbon itself a little too flashy for my taste, but take that opinion with a grain of salt. After all, nobody has made me a princess.
Stray thoughts & observations:
- it’s all hands on deck as Athanasia prepares for her grand debut. But even if I was filthy rich, this wouldn’t be my idea of luxury. Maybe this is just cope from a filthy peasant who doesn’t understand the finer things in life, but I feel like part of the fun of a big day is getting yourself ready for it. We live for the anticipation. For example, I’m not going to watch The Game Awards to see who wins what. I’m watching to see trailers for upcoming games. But I digress. The point I’m trying to make is that independence is fun. Don’t you want to do things by yourself for yourself? At this point, why even bother chewing your own food? Just have your maids feed you mama bird style.
- She’s so… pink. She’s so damn pink. They didn’t think to balance her look with any other color? Her golden hair and blue eyes are doing some serious heavy lifting.
- Lots of CG background characters in this week’s episode. It doesn’t look that bad compared to your average anime, but these CG characters are definitely noticeable.
- I have to wonder if Ijikiel is aware of what his father is doing — that his old man is trying to manipulate Jennette for his political gamemanship. If the boy is aware, why isn’t he protecting Jennette? So if I assume that he’s a good person, then I guess I also have to assume that he’s clueless.
- Not surprisingly, masked man and Duke What’s-his-face are in cahoots. Masked man also has the ability to go woosh and disappear into thin air. Okay then.
- Not that I miss his presence, but where is Lucas during this entire affair? What has he been up to?
- Judging by the preview for next week’s episode, Athanasia has made some friends. They don’t seem very bright, but I suppose I shouldn’t be so quick to judge.
