I think Coco's quest to save her mom is about to get majorly subverted. Get ready for another Spoiler-Heavy Theory / Analysis 💫
Significant witch hat atelier manga spoilers below the cut. Proceed with extreme care...
I personally think that Coco's ever-nearing quest to enter the Tower of Tomes will NOT result in her finding the picture book with the spell that cursed her mom (In fact, I really hope that when she does eventually solve the problem and save her mom, it's entirely on her own, purely with magic she came up with herself, but that’s a thought for another time).
Right now, Coco is working towards a couple major objectives:
Number 1: Pass the test to be able to enter the Tower of Tomes.
Number 2: Solve the problem and save Mom using the information she finds there.
The Silver Eve arc changed things though, and I think now, she has one more critical objective:
Number 3: Save Qifrey (and Custas!) from the Silverwood curse.
Looking back, there have been quite a few hints already that she will soon be faced with the difficult choice of arranging her priorities, and I am certain that dilemma will become impossible to ignore once she enters the Tower, since we know from chapter 93 that the Tower only permits you to find and leave with the books your heart is searching for.
I feel fairly certain, honestly, that what she’ll find in the Tower will not have anything to do with solving the problem of her mom, but will rather help her find a way to save Qifrey, and by extension, Custas. Whether this will be a conscious choice, or if she'll be just as surprised as us, I'm not sure, but I do feel that that is what will happen.
Now, obviously, this will not mean that her mom is suddenly less important to her than Qifrey, or that she doesn’t intend to save her anymore. But I think there’s a different sense of internal urgency that comes from hearing directly from your friend’s mouth that he could essentially die at any moment, especially when she’s already stressed how important it is to her for him to be there to guide her and celebrate her achievements.
In fact, remember the last time she was faced with the choice to attempt to enter the Tower or to go back to the Great Hall in chapter 38? In that moment , her instinct was to ignore the two options she’d been presented with, and instead “save” Qifrey. Foreshadowing? I think so.
Anyways. All this to say that while I do think that Coco’s story will culminate with her saving her mom, I don’t think that what she’ll find at the Tower of Tomes will play a role in that. I think she has a deep, internal belief that in order to save her mom, she needs Qifrey’s support, and to have that, she will need to find a way to keep him alive and hopefully end his long-term residence in the Hashtag Torture Labyrinth.
Whether she realizes it or not, that is what her heart desires, and so that is what the Tower will give her. I think it would be so compelling if she goes to the Tower, certain that she'll find The picture book, only to only find books connected to Silverwood trees. The simultaneous hope and disappointment that would bring her...
If you wanna get real crazy with it, you can even argue that this has been hinted at as far back as chapter one, where Coco was indirectly presented with the choice between Qifrey and her mom, and though she wanted to choose her mom, she ended up with Qifrey.
And ohhhh god.... The guilt that Qifrey, the reigning king of minimizing his own importance, will feel upon learning that what Coco got from the Tower was for HIS sake and not her mom’s??? Yeah. That'll be fun.
I have a sinking feeling about Qifrey and where his story is headed. [EDIT 5/28: NOT PERMANENTLY!!!!! I THINK HE WILL HAVE A HAPPY ENDING!!]
MASSIVE spoilers and maybe slightly long-winded theorizing below the cut.
I believe quite certainly that Qifrey intends to reveal the complete truth to Olruggio very soon, and that while he seems to be accepting his fate, he is trying to maintain as much control over the terms of what he believes to be his inevitable end as possible.
Following the events of Chapter 88, after he reveals his nature as a Silverwood host to Coco, he asks to postpone his complete confession, wishing to be able to reveal the truth elsewhere, in a peaceful place beneath a wide open sky where his roots would have room to comfortably grow. He has described the land around the atelier in this way many times before.
Later, when the entire group is finally reunited and Olruggio tells Qifrey they’re going home. Qifrey’s expression looks pained for a moment, before he answers, “Alright then. Let's go home. Our atelier awaits."
His verbal recognition of the atelier as his home is a rather glaring signal that he is beginning to accept his imminent end and has chosen the atelier as his ideal final resting place. This is hinted at early on in a sequence during which Beldaruit spoke to Riliphin of the Silverwoods, and implied that he knew of Qifrey’s condition as he privately worried that his beginning to think of the atelier as his home could be dangerous for him.
At a point during their journey home, we return to the group to find the girls all asleep, while Qifrey has distanced himself from the rest, sitting on the bank of a lake to write in his book. Olruggio joins him and points out how far he’s sitting from the fire.
I think this was probably intentional in an effort to be closer to the lake to keep himself anxious, since it is my personal theory that here, Qifrey is actually writing a letter to Olruggio in which he tells him the entire truth, and that the narration through the next arc is comprised of excerpts from that letter. The lake is intended to be a failsafe of sorts, since of course, we know that vocalizing the truth to Olly is Qifrey’s greatest comfort trigger, while water touching his skin is his biggest anxiety trigger. Given this, it makes sense for him to choose this particular spot to begin to release the truth so he has a means of keeping the Silverwood at bay readily available should he need it, which he evidently does later on.
In the segments that follow, Qifrey reminisces on how he and Olruggio crossed paths at the Great Hall and became close.
Through the end of chapter 91, we watch the story unfold neutrally as though it is happening in real time, with no narration, but in chapter 92, something shifts. As soon as Qifrey’s recount reaches the part of the story that would have been lost to Olruggio’s memory, a past-tense narrator voice begins to cut in, and suddenly, it becomes clear this story is being told to someone, not merely recalled, and not just to anyone, but to Olruggio by Qifrey. This is the strongest evidence that what we’re reading is actually the contents of a letter to Olruggio.
All of this indicates to me that Qifrey is not just reminiscing, but is actively preparing for the end. The telling of the story, the physical and emotional distance Qifrey has put between himself and the others, and his now repeated framing of the atelier as both home and the kind of place where he would want to be forever, are all supportive of that.
As far as we know, Qifrey hasn’t been the one to initiate a full confession since they were kids at the Tower of Tomes. Spilling his guts in a letter written under duress is probably a new tactic, and it’s a smart one, as it ensures Qifrey can get the complete truth out on his terms without the usual interruption from the Silvertree, and if the others read it without him around, then he also doesn't have to worry about the potential for harming them with his transformation.
Him wanting to be away from his loved ones when he changes is what has me especially worried for him now, because Olruggio and the girls just left the atelier, leaving Qifrey there by himself. Maybe I'm projecting (probably), but the thought of Qifrey leaving a note before seeking out a means to essentially kill himself while they're split up makes my stomach hurt. Painfully though, it does feel in character, especially now that he's vocalized his trust in his students, particularly Coco, to carry on his mission. Olruggio, please go home now, your husband is an active danger to himself!!
Fortunately, Hiehart and Jujy pay the atelier a visit, but even upon greeting them, he does already seem on edge and uncharacteristically down. He's clearly having a hard time. I think he WANTS to live, but he's also teetering on the edge of thinking he doesn't get to live anymore.
Hopefully, whatever Hiehart has to say will get Qifrey out of his head and convince him to keep living for a little while longer. I'm guessing he's going to ask Qifrey to take on Jujy as his apprentice. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Anyways. To conclude, here is Qifrey’s directed narration/possible excerpts from a letter to Olruggio compiled:
Every day I turned my gaze away from the encroaching dread, and for as long as I was in the dark, I was happy. I greeted each morning with excitement, for with the rise of the sun came another adventure with you. I thought if I could retrieve the past I lost, my joy would be as genuine as yours, and perhaps I would have a real chance to share in your happiness. A child can dream. Like ordinary boys, we would share our visions of tomorrow with each other and we would laugh at how far away it all seemed.
Little did I know that felicity came with forgetting. It was a bliss born of ignorance. If I knew what I was… If I knew that I was never meant to be saved, I would've stayed far away from you, the sky’s kindest, most radiant star.
I once read an old poem that likened stars to boats sailing through the sky. But as far as I know, boats don’t twinkle like stars. The light doesn’t come from the vessel itself, but its guiding torch. Like your pyreball, it burns at the bow. A beacon of light in the dark.
After that fateful day, you would uncover my secret again and again. Each time you would respond with disbelief. Then your face would twist and turn in anguish. And after biting back a few words, you would show me grace, and comfort me and forgive me for lying to you. And then, without fail, the Silverwood’s roots would grow. You would offer me the same path back every time, and I would take it, adding to my mess of sins.
I had often considered leaving your side. I thought that perhaps traveling alone would save me from taking away your memories. But even that minute solace was enough for the Silverwood. I knew then that distance would do nothing but break my promise to you.
So I had another thought: A master never wants for worry with apprentices to look after. The selfishness behind my reason for taking on pupils made me ill, but they’d never have to know that. So I decided to put every fiber of my being toward becoming a good educator. If only I had known then what a joy it truly is to watch your students grow with each passing day.
It’s somewhat rare for a Silverwood to take root in people. Unlike animals, they tend to hold onto too much anxiety. Which is why the tree planted in Custus that gave him his legs raises some questions. My right eye was the only one to sprout during the experiments. It must have some connection to the Silverwood in Custas. For so long, I thought I was the only host, but now I'm not so sure. There could be more victims out there than I ever imagined.
Did I make the right choice?
Would it have been better to throw everything aside and hunt down the brimmed caps?
Doubts like these turn in my head, but the moment I see my atelier, I remember.
This is where my heart is. This is where I want to be.
--
[EDIT 5/28: just to be clear, i do not think qifrey's story will END with him as a tree. i am praying for dear life that it will culminate in something hopeful. i DO however think it's imminent that he will fully transform at some point, especially since they have explicitly established that it doesn't matter how far they've progressed, the process can still be reversed if their peace is taken away again. i think a significant part of coco's arc will include saving qifrey before she saves her mom, and think that her journey to the tower of tomes will ultimately result in her learning more about qifrey rather than finding the picture book. you can see more of my theory about her trip to the tower here]
i rotated a lot of ideas in my head while drawing dis so i will dump them here
it'd be really cute if the 4 qiflings had elements that were reminiscent of each other in their own personalized gowns ...
i didnt convey it super well in the doodle but my very rudimentary thoughts were that the sparkling ribbons = richeh's crystal ribbons; cloud motifs = tetia; coco = flowers, summer; and agott with celestial bodies or strange geometric shapes (her and her damn diamonds)
the motivation behind coco's blue is to pay homage to the dress that she and her mother were wearing in ep 1 of the anime! i was like. i'm definitely going to make her cloak green but how do i make this more interesting bruh
i dont think these designs really do them justice thematically, i was just drawing them in pretty clothes n pretty colors HELPELPE .. if i were to actually design older qifling designs i would have to revisit this... but im not super good with character design
tbh i just drew on the strange glove for agott bc it looked cool but what if: wrist brace for carpal tunnel
;w; i don't know how tumblr etiquette works - do i respond to each reblog individually? do i reply in the comments? but i've been reading the nice comments people have left behind and i really appreciate them especially since i haven't shared my art publicly in suuuch a long time. i've never been so motivated to draw before WAAAAAGHHH . i really want to participate in the wha fandom so stay tuned.....................
I strongly dislike the sentiment that people who aren’t happy with arcane season 2’s ending simply don’t like unhappy or tragic endings. I loved season 1’s ending and that was nothing but tragic! But none of the tragic events in s2 feel earned. Isha dies after what felt like very little time knowing her and she isn’t mentioned again. Vander dies than comes back then dies again and while they have the beautifully animated flashbacks and watercolor sequences, everything is going so fast the audience doesn’t get time to process or sit with the grief. Viktor, Jayce, Heimerdinger, Isha, Vander, Jinx all die and it doesn’t feel like it mattered because none of the characters react how they should. You can argue about realistic depictions of grief and how it’s different for everyone but this is storytelling. It’s supposed to be more dramatic and emotional. The only person who gets to grieve in these last few episodes a little bit is Vi and even then, her grief becomes another tragic event when she looses Jinx. There was a lot to love in this season but I’m upset with how it all ended.
so much of the promotional material promised so much in the way of vi and jinx/powder and their sisterly relationship, but i feel like with the amount of storylines/plotlines they did in this season, it was just too busy to focus on anyone–let alone the two supposed protagonists of the show. i think the best way for me to articulate how i feel about the writing of this show is that it fell flat, lost its heart, and emotional impact of the first season.
i would have been okay with them straying from my personal favourite focus if:
the storylines had been fleshed out better
the decisions the characters made actually made sense
main characters didn't become plot devices (vi)
new additions of the show weren't just plot devices (isha, loris, maddie, etc.)
motivations of characters made sense
characters had even small lines/dialogue to articulate their intentions/ideas
less time spent on off-screen development
and the thing is with the amount of plot lines they were ambitiously aiming to see out to fruition, its really hard to also set up all these new facets or opposing characteristics in former characters–plus adding new ones too. for example:
caitlyn's facist arc that didn't really have much meaning or attention
jinx's s1 mental collapse which changed abruptly into her redemption arc via isha (plot device)
jinx's revolutionist arc (first, reluctantly and then, willingly w ekko)
vi's pitfighter/brawler arc which was literally just one clip (which ended up being a teaser that showed everything)
im almost grateful to the minimal screen time ekko got bc they didn't try to change the core and essence of who he was in s1: he stayed true to himself. he's just a boy with a huge heart and love for his people that chose to leave his happy ending in an alternate timeline to return to the ppl who needed him where he is almost guaranteed heartbreak in some way or another.
i think the main reason so many ppl loved the first season was bc the characters were relatable in one way or another and they became so multidimensional when you explored how their environment/circumstances shaped them. but this season bc it was so purely focused on the endgame instead of HOW everyone got there, the characters fell flatter, they lost a soul and heart, and i felt the show lost its charm.
i know we all have our favourite characters and storylines we want the show to focus on and i would have been okay if i didn't get my way. if the show didn't focus on jinx and vi, i would've lived (although the promotional material was unfairly misleading) if the storylines, characters, and everything else made sense to me.
of course, the animation was lovely and the music was catchy/heartbreaking. i dont regret watching the show out to its final episode. it was one of the most beautiful visual experiences of my entire life. i still love the characters and will never regret staying on board until the final moments.
but i cant lie and say im not a little sad at how it ended too.
edited add-on:
also, the voice actors did phenomenally. ella purnell just absolutely nails the delivery for every line and reed shannon also hurt me with how he portrayed ekko. so on and so forth.
but that being said, i also felt the dialogue and lines of each character felt much less impactful this season (again, writing.)
i liked viktor’s monologue at the end of act 2. that was compellingly well written
but the lines this season weren’t the same quality as silco’s monologue about drowning, jinx’s speech at the beginning of the doomed tea party, etc. everything just felt so flat and shallow this season overall.
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