Reel Tastes & Travels – a light dose of entertainment to wake you up

With each episode, Ace is growing on me. When he was first introduced, I found him to be a bit full of himself and annoying. But I love the way he stands up to Riddle – honestly I wouldn’t have pegged him to be the one with the backbone to do it, but I guess everyone has their tipping point.

After their spectacularly unsuccessful attempt at a coup, Ace and Deuce are licking their wounds. Riddle, of course, is not a gracious winner and can’t help rubbing it in their faces. Which, on its own, may have gone unremarked, but he then crosses every acceptable line by  insulting their parents and the poor job they’ve done raising them. Given Deuce’s backstory, I thought he’d be the one to snap at this, but surprisingly it’s Ace who lets it rip on Riddle, bluntly calling him out as the bully that he is. Even more surprisingly, this act of defiance is the spark that ignites the flame of rebellion in the rest of Heartslabyul. Even Trey is stirred enough to try and stop Riddle. 

Unfortunately (and contrary to my prediction), none of this makes the slightest dent in Riddle’s armor of self-righteous smugness and Trey’s defection proves to be the final straw that pushes him over the edge. There is noone more zealous than a person convinced of their own rightness, and blind and deaf to any differing opinions. Although judging from his childhood flashbacks, I feel he’s also driven by a deep-seated fear of admitting that his childhood was flawed. Because the abuse he suffered at the hands of his parents, and the stifling regimen he was forced to follow, were acceptable if this was indeed the only right way to hone his talents. Admitting that his parents’ approach might have been wrong, or even, at the very least, lacking, would force him to confront the dark side of his childhood and what was taken from him by his parents’ relentless quest for perfection. 

When faced with a chance to self-reflect, he turns his back on it and chooses to spell everyone in sight. This causes his magestone to rupture and Riddle to be literally swallowed by the negative energy and transformed into a Gothic Queen of Hearts inspired nightmare! And if a half-deranged Riddle had lost enough of his reason to try and murder Ace, what is an over-blotted Riddle with no control over his magic or emotions capable of?

Stray Musings

• Pretty interesting lore about the consequences of using magic. Like most good things, small portions are fine but overindulgence can get you. It also further explains the need for the mage stones/totems since that helps absorb the negative side effects. Does that mean it works differently for magical creatures like Grim?
• Something puzzling – Riddle’s mother was vehemently against eating any tarts in fear of the harmful effects of ‘all that sugar’, and Riddle clearly can’t abide the barest hint of a rule being broken. Why then was he waiting to eat Trey’s pies (the ones that kick-started this whole series of events)? Hmmm.. plot hole or an indicator of the tiniest rebellious steak?
• I only just realized that the entirety of Riddle’s happy memories from childhood, as well as the foundation of his trust in Trey, amounts to a stolen hour or two when he was left to self-study. That’s just tragic.

• The Headmage is really useless. What do you mean you let a student overblot on your watch! That too, when the magic collars around the students necks are very visible indicators of the amount of magic Riddle’s been letting loose. Between this and his non-action during Grim’s rampage, I almost suspect he doesn’t actually have any magic of his own, and simply hides that fact behind his position and general air of whimsy.
• Riddle’s character design after overblotting is gorgeous!
• Did the monster Riddle conjures up at the end remind anyone else of the Golem like creature from the mines? Was that actually remnant from a past incident of overblotting?