Witch Hat Atelier ‒ Episode 8

© Kamome Shirahama/KODANSHA/ Witch Hat Atelier Committee

Did Qifrey use a forbidden spell on Nolnoa? It certainly looks that way, and that, plus Easthies' reaction to seeing whose student Coco is, means that we really ought to be questioning who he really is. That he's already on the Knights Moralis' radar is not a good sign, for one thing, but that entire interaction also raises some very troubling questions. The main one? When Easthies insists on looking at Coco's hands for spell tattoos, he mentions that this is something that Brimmed Caps do to conceal their nature. Later in the episode, when Qifrey presumably uses the forbidden spell on Nolnoa, we get a close-up of his glasses, and the way one lens is dark. Up to this point, the assumption has been that he's either missing that eye or it's blind or damaged…but now that Easthies has mentioned body tattoos, could it be that Qifrey's eye has a seal on it? One that allows him to do what no witch ought?

None of this necessarily means that Qifrey's not a nice person underneath it all. He does seem to genuinely care about his apprentices, and Olruggio's a straight enough shooter that I think it must not be entirely an act, because he simply wouldn't put up with it if it was. (Although the fact that he's Qifrey's Watchful Eye may indicate that he doesn't entirely trust his friend.) But the man's at the very least conflicted, or possibly obsessed with finding the Brimmed Caps for reasons we don't yet know. Why he wants to find them so badly is also something we should be questioning. I don't think he intends to use the doctored ink, so it's not necessarily power or a “magic for all” philosophy that he's after. Did a Brimmed Cap hurt someone he loved?

Or maybe the answer is somewhere in between his taking in Coco and his statement this week about Tartah's silverwash eyes. (Remember back in episode four when he was looking out the window and it was in greyscale?) Qifrey tells Coco that witches aren't great at accommodating disabilities, and we know that Tartah's working for his grandfather as something less than a “real” apprentice, at least in his mind. On the surface, colorblindness really shouldn't impact his ability to draw spells, so right now it looks a lot like he's being punished for the crime of not being “perfect.” Is this what's sticking in Qifrey's craw – was he similarly discriminated against if he really does only have vision in one eye? If so, that's perhaps the best case for the Brimmed Caps' philosophy we've heard.

Despite being about witches and magic, Witch Hat Atelier is remarkably grounded. From the discrimination Tartah faces to ideas about who is allowed to have and wield power, this is taking real-world issues and transferring them to a fantasy story. The Knights Moralis all clearly feel superior to Outsiders, as we see when Olruggio has to shame them into helping the stranded and injured travelers, but also with how cold the blonde is when Dagda begs her to heal Custas. She can't without breaking taboo, but she could at least have been kind to a clearly distressed father worried about his son. Instead, she acts like she's better than him, like perhaps it was his fault for being born an Outsider and letting his son be so gravely injured. She's blaming the victims, flaunting her own superiority by acting like even talking to him is beneath her.

Richeh's not wrong when she says that the Knights are acting like children are lesser creatures, either. Part of how Olruggio gets them to help is by pointing out that mere children are acting more morally than the so-called Knights Moralis, doing the right thing despite everything else. The Knights are so busy worrying about how other people are using their skills that they neglect the ostensible reason why magic is policed at all. How can they be so outraged about an “abuse” of power if they're hypocritically willing to do the same thing by not helping those harmed by the runaway spell? “Do as I say, not as I do” only gets you so far.

Whatever else Qifrey's failings are, at least he's willing to stand up for his apprentices. He's taught, or allowed, Agott, Richeh, and Tetia to stand up and say something when they see an abuse of power. The sheer chutzpah of Richeh smacking the amulet out of Easthies' hand when he tried to use it on Coco is inspiring, and Tetia putting herself between her friends and an angry, powerful adult is heroic. Even Agott isn't willing to just sit there and let Coco be mind-wiped, because she knows it's just wrong. The high and mighty Knights Moralis, with their little brims shading their eyes, need to get their own house in order, because when you're picking on children as an adult, you're nearly always in the wrong.

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Witch Hat Atelier is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.