Summary
Sincethe end of the Grand Magic Festival arc,every new episode ofWistoria: Wand and Swordshas been better than the previous ones. The showrunners manage to find a way to properly weave the drama, which used to be Wistoria’s biggest weakness, into the actions, which remain to be Wistoria’s greatest strength.
The Grand Magic Festival arc was a huge success for this series. So the question now is whether or not Wistoria can keep this winning streak all the way to the end of its first season. Episode 8 was the start of the last arc for this season, the All-Student Praxis arc, and it was a good episode. Fortunately, episode 9 manages to keep the upward trajectory of this action fantasy series.
The Power of Contrast
There are a lot of great things to be talked about in this episode. But there is one particularly interesting technique used in this episode that greatly enhances the impact of the story,especially for the protagonist,Will Serfort. That technique is the clever use of contrast.
From Useless to Useful
In the early part of the episode, Will is not only useless to the team, but he is practically a burden. With five high-level mages on the team, there’s really nothing that he can do. Will may have extraordinary senses and reaction time, but even he can’t decimate a horde of monsters with a single attack. His teammates, on the other hand, can dish out large area-of-effect spells without breaking a sweat.
When we get to the second half of the episode, however, things quickly change for the better for Will. Due toa sudden attack by a powerful monster,the team is separated into three two-person groups. Will finds himself together with the proud elf, Wignall, and that is when he manages to show his true worth. To protect the injured Wignall, Will basically faces every monster attack by himself and he successfully defeats every single one of them without breaking a sweat. He proves that his strength and knowledge of the dungeon is second to none.
The Low Enhances the High
So what makes Will’s comeback in the second half of the episode feel so satisfying to watch? The answer is contrast. Will at the end of episode 9 is the polar opposite of Will at the beginning of episode 9. We appreciatethe cool and dependable Willbecause we see the lame and miserable Will first. It’s like how you enjoy a cool, air-conditioned room more after spending the whole afternoon under the intense heat of the sun. The low points enhance the high points. This is a wonderful example of using contrast to amplify the viewer’s watching experience.
A Bit of Character Development
The premise of this episode is pretty straightforward.Dive deep into the dungeon,and kill every monster you encounter. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a great action-oriented episode. Since action has always been Wistoria’s greatest strength, episode 9 seems to be the perfect episode for the fans to just sit back and enjoy the show.
However, that is only partially true. Because amidst the fast-paced actions, we get a moment of character development for one of the minor characters, the one who considers himself a lowly elf.
A Lowly Elf
Just like Dwarves,Elves are also a race of people who come from another world. Unlike their Stoic counterparts, however, Elves are extremely well-versed in magic. Even more so than most humans. So it’s no wonder they can thrive in this human-dominated world fairly easily. In fact, one of their own quickly rose to the highest position in this new world as the Magia Vander.
Elves are a prideful race, especially when it comes to their extraordinary magic ability. As such, if any of their brethren seem to lack magical skills, they won’t hesitate to mock, bully, and even cast that elf aside. Wignall is one of those elves. That’s why even though he is one of the top three students in the academy, he still considers himself a failure.
“You’re wrong. You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not talented. I’m one of the dregs. A laggard.”
– Wignall Lindor, Episode 9
Ample Development for a Supporting Character
Ever since the series introduced Wignall as one of the supporting characters, the viewers only see his prideful and dependable side. Episode 9 completely shatters his clean and perfect image. As it turns out, underneath that facade isan elf who suffers a severe case of inferiority complexand is greatly traumatized by the humiliation and betrayal that happened to him years ago. That is a character development.
Supporting characters rarely get proper character development, especially those who appear mid-way through the season. That’s why it’s great to see the author and the showrunners take some time to improve a supporting character like Wignall. Just a couple of minutes of backstory and Wignall revealing his true self is enough to make him so much more believable and even increases his relatability to the audience. Hopefully, they’ll do the same to other supporting casts as well.
An Upward Trajectory
As mentioned earlier,Wistoria: Wand and Swordhave been on an upward trajectory for quite some time now. Every episode since the end ofthe Grand Magical Festival archas been top-notch. So what does it mean for this series?
Living Up to the New Standard
Producing high-quality episodes one after another is certainly a great thing for the audience who watch the show and the showrunners who create the show. However, it also means setting a new standard for the series.
By now, the audience is already used toseeing high-quality episodesfrom Wistoria, so any kind of mistake or a little dip in the storytelling or visual quality will be seen as a disappointing downfall of the series as a whole.
This high expectation may create extra pressure for the showrunners to deliver even better episodes in the upcoming weeks. Depending on the person, working under high pressure may be good or bad, but one thing’s for sure, the showrunners have to live up to the new standard brought upon by their success.
End on a High Note
The end of a series, especially the first season of a new series, has to present a proper resolution to the conflict presented in the latest arc so that the audience can feel a sense of closure after investing so much time into the series. But beyond that, the end of the first season also has to create a cliffhanger to make the viewers excited about the upcoming second season.
Wistoria: Wand and Swordis scheduled to have 12 episodes for its first season. This means we are now incredibly close to the end of the first season. So let’s hope this series can keep its great momentum andend this season on a high note.
Wistoria: Wand and Swordis available to stream onCrunchyroll.
