The Knights Moralis take such a heavy-handed approach to preventing forbidden magic, so it naturally makes you wonder, well, who watches over them? They’re all about making sure witches don’t abuse magic, but who makes sure they don’t abuse their powers? Who reviews their actions on a daily basis to ensure that they’re not overzealous in applying their justice? Or do the Knights Moralis just “police” themselves? “We’ve conducted an investigation of our own actions… and we’ve found ourselves not guilty!”
Still, this certainly one way to make Qifrey look good. Yeah, he sucks, but look at these unempathetic, draconian assholes! Olruggio has to remind the Knights that, uh, we still have people to help.
The good news is that the Knights Moralis couldn’t find any hard evidence of wrongdoing. The bad news is that the investigation is ongoing. Even worse, the leader seems convinced that Coco is a problem. He just can’t prove it, blah blah blah. So she’s gonna be under heavy scrutiny, and I don’t think she realizes it. She’s a child, though. Children shouldn’t have to worry and be anxious about their actions. Basically, Qifrey is going to have to keep an even closer eye on her, but his current track record ain’t great.
One of the Brimmed Caps tainted Coco’s ink with their blood, which was why her basic spell completely messed up the terrain. But when did this even happen? And how did it happen without anyone noticing? Qifrey immediately wants to investigate, so he comes up with an excuse to take Coco back to the ink shop. When they get there, Qifrey charges into Nolnoa’s room, tells him to investigate the tainted vial of ink, then once Nolnoa confirms that it’s the same ink that was used when the girls went missing that one time, Qifrey starts drawing a spell with it. Isn’t this kinda reckless. We already saw how Coco inadvertently messed up an entire riverbank with it. What if Qifrey’s spell accidentally messes up Nolnoa’s shop/home? C’mon, man, have some empathy. He’s just an humble, old man trying to do his job and obey the law. You’re going to give him a damn heart attack or stroke.
Well, when something can go wrong, it definitely will go wrong: Qifrey’s spell causes a blinding light to go off all through the shop, which leads to Coco accidentally pulling down a shelf and scatter a bunch of jars onto the ground. To make matters worse, all of the labels come off. Tartah can’t distinguish between colors, so he can’t even clean up this mess even if he wanted to. The kid is pissed, and rightfully so. Sigh… look, this isn’t entirely Coco’s fault — once again, Qifrey sucks — but maybe this wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t recklessly climb a step ladder. More importantly, Coco’s screw-ups are all due to her impulsiveness. It’s frustrating, because she’s just a sweet, innocent kid deep down, but she also never learns. She started drawing magic without any oversight, which led to her mom being petrified. She recklessly chased after the Brimmed Cap witch she saw, which got her and the other girls trapped in some pocket dimension with a dragon. She got excited over an observation, which led to Agott messing up while drawing a spell. Scattering the ink shop’s ingredients all over the floor is probably the least of her crimes, but it’s the same thing over and over again: Coco gets overexcited, and it leads her to trouble. She’s a kid, I know. But is she ever going to learn? I dunno what character development looks like in this series. Are they going to drag this out over arcs and arcs? How many times does Coco need to screw up before it sinks in?
As for Qifrey… yo, I don’t think he is a nice person. Like up until now, I’ve been extremely critical of him, but at least he seemed nice. But in order to keep this evidence to just himself, he resorts to erasing Nolnoa’s memories. He doesn’t even let the old man negotiate or defend himself. That’s so fucked up. If the Knights Moralis are heavy-handed about forbidden magic, Qifrey is just as bad about his personal investigation into the Brimmed Caps. Not only that, he literally just admonished his apprentices for the same thing: “Memories are what make up a person’s life. Your actions nearly robbed them of a portion of that.” Qifrey’s a hypocrite.
Stray thoughts & observations:
— I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Tetia and Richeh are the first to return to the scene. Also, the latter is right: lots of adults sadly don’t really treat kids with any respect.
— Unsurprisingly, the Knights have terrible bedside manners. I understand that they’re not doctors, but geez, have a little heart. The father is just concerned for his child.
— Now, let’s see if Qifrey will ever learn from his mistakes. You might think I’m too harsh on him, but he even admits he shouldn’t have let them out of his sight!
— Well, Agott got what she wanted: Qifrey supports her taking the second test, which will allow her to accompany him on jobs if she passes.
— Is it really necessary to remove the entire doorway if the shop is closed? Feels a bit extra.
— Girl, why are you just grabbing random jars off of people’s shelves? Where are your manners?
— So… Tartah is the first to notice that Coco’s leg needs bandaging. Bro, what exactly does Qifrey do again? Witches need people like the Bobs from Office Space. Just come in and grill these idiots on what exactly they do all day. Your apprentice is hurt, and you don’t even realize it! The best part is during the credits. Qifrey makes this big, grand statement about how he’ll always protect her… but he didn’t even notice that she was hurt and needed medical attention. What do people see in this guy? Seriously?
— Ugh, you just know Coco is gonna break something…
— Well, like master, like apprentice. Qifrey also shouldn’t have tried to cast a spell with the tainted ink. Why couldn’t it wait? Why did he have to do it right there and then?
