wild speculation about olruggio's dad + olly parallels with utowin.
a lot of this is just letting my mind wander, we don't really have enough context to say for certain, so it's just for fun. i do think olruggio's dad was a dick to him for sure, but who knows about the rest.
okay starting with olruggio/utowin parallels.
i think we're going to see utowin and olruggio are very similar. i think they both had shit dads. both olly and utowin had a problem with authority.
"i mean, i'm pretty sure i wasn't the only kid around who couldn't follow a bunch of stuffy grown-ups instructions." who is the other notable kid in this backstory? olruggio.
as utowin continues his monologue we see him with his own dad.
and then the next pair we see is olruggio with his dad. a direct parallel.
and the olruggio we meet in the great hall does not give af about what the adults tell him to do. he's going to lie to them to do/get what he wants.
so utowin sees olruggio after noz. what if him watching olruggio from afar has happened before. what if him having different thoughts to the rest of the kids is based on what he knows rather than what he speculates. like maybe he's seen olly's dad be a dick to him before and that's why he isn't fully against olly like the other kids. (also think the purpose of this could just be showing us utowin's personality too tho.)
but to keep running with this. i've thought it was interesting that utowin wants to comfort olruggio instead of something more dramatic, like being the hero and saving olly. maybe he wants to comfort olly because he knows he can relate to olly about shitty dads. they have something in common there.
except noz doesn't really have much to do with olly's dad, it has to do with death and disaster. so utowin can't really step in and comfort him. not for that. noz is way bigger than what he had in mind. utowin is hard on himself anyways.
i also think it's entirely possibly utowin doesn't know olly's dad is also a dick to olly and utowin's surprised when he learns that fact later, but i think utowin and olly being very similar in their relationships with their dads is a really fun parallel.
and speculation about olruggio + his dad. i talk more about why i think olly's childhood was bad here.
if olly had all his emotional needs met as a child idk if he'd end up being described as crafty at the age of like 7 lmao. great hall olly shows us a kid that a strict father would not have a lot of patience for imo. of course his dad is the reason he's Like That, but his dad would never recognize that and just place the blame on olly for being difficult. olly is too smart for his own good.
i'm convinced the smile olly has here is fake. it's a mask because he has to keep up appearances when with his dad in public. it isn't real.
i keep wondering about olruggio's relationship with his dad and how much to blame that man is for why olruggio is Like That. olruggio is confident when he's using his magic for his own purposes, when there's an obstacle in front of him. he's not good at accepting praise for his magic after the fact. see coco and the glowstone path, all of hiehart's fussing, how shy he gets when the girls are watching him and amazed at how perfect his lines are.
was his dad always dismissive or hard on olruggio when it came to his spells? instead of taking the time to praise olly for what he's achieved, he'd move on to the next thing and push olly harder. so olly doesn't grow up knowing how to accept praise. he's used to criticism.
there was something about this panel that's been bugging me and i think i finally figured out what it is. olruggio's dad isn't helping. olly's a kid and he's doing all the work while his dad just stands there behind him watching closely, making sure he does it right. you're a grown ass man, help the small kid in front of you.
my interpretation of his dad so far is he's like a disney channel dad. living vicariously through his more talented son, basking in the limelight that comes from olruggio being the town's savior. pushing olruggio as hard as possible and being hard on him when he fails. he instills the mentality that olly is a talented witch and that means his talents must be used for what is needed, not what olly wants.
and if the whole town needed olruggio, then that would have been a big deal to let him go to the great hall.
and how much is the town leaning on olruggio if this is how he reacts when he can't save everyone in what sounds like an impossible situation. how much is this breakdown is informed by his dad constantly drilling into olly that yes, everything is his responsibility. his dad wants that limelight. use my son! of course my son can help you! olly's sense of worth is quickly associated with his ability to help people around him. so when he fails, that's a disaster.
so olruggio was very important to the town because of his skills. ghodrey giving him away would have affected the town because of that. and that led me to think what if olruggio's dad expected him to come back? finish his education and return to ghodrey.
but olruggio meets qifrey. imagine olruggio's dad, who has always been trying to control olly, seeing his son start to chose qifrey over his original responsibilities to him, to ghodrey. olruggio's dad in this scenario would hate qifrey and i swear that would only make olly did his heels in further. seeing his son choose qifrey over his potential would drive a dad like that insane. the angst potential here.... olruggio doesn't have the nickname olly until qifrey. his dad never called him a cute nickname, they didn't have time for that. olruggio loves that qifrey gave him a nickname. qifrey is such a fan of olly's magic. qifrey is everything his father isn't. supportive, caring, fun.
so olruggio doesn't come back to ghodrey, he chooses to live with qifrey in their backwoods atelier. olly's extremely well known, he's famous amongst the witching world and he's living this small life out in the country. why would he go back to ghodrey where his dad is? he wants to stay as far away from that man as possible. his dad never forgives him for never coming back. utowin never goes back to ghodrey either.
imagine qifrey and the girls coming across olruggio's dad in the great hall or something. the man looks exactly like olly. qifrey can't stand him because he knows what that man has done to his olly. the girls can't understand how olruggio's dad could be so nasty when olly is the way he is.
and if olruggio's dad sucks it makes the conversation around who his master was that much more interesting. what if his dad had a hand in choosing his master for him? who was olly's master and how would they deal with a prodigy who doesn't trust adults and is too smart for his own good.
sometimes i wonder if this convo is informed by him not liking his master in the past. he's not fully trusting qifrey's reasons for taking coco in but maybe there's something else there too.
these panels are also killing me because it feels so representative of their current dynamic. like as children/teens they can hold hands tightly and lean their heads and it's this show of closeness and trust and care and a lack of secrets with one another. compared to their adult selves in the panel next to it where they're no longer holding hands, both hands so close but so far away now that qifrey knows that he has no choice but to build and maintain distance between them, but still unable to completely push olruggio away from his life because he wants him there so badly
Qifrey receiving comfort and forgiveness only for those to trigger the parasite that wants to kill him. He cannot even properly appreciate the relief he feels because it's inherently tied to the silverwood and to erasing Olruggio's memories. He loves Olruggio for how generous he is, but it's what he's offered that he cannot truly appreciate.
It fucks me up. The way one panel shows Olly being affectionate, with Qifrey doing his signature holding his hands together. And the next panel, coming as the symbol of QIFREY'S COMFORT, is completely devoured by massive silverwood roots. Even when it's not active it's eating up his life. His comfort is devastating to them both.
"You would show me grace, comfort me, and forgive me for lying to you" this would normally be a soothing moment. But it's horror for both of them. Because even through realizing he was lied to, Olruggio is more upset that his best friend has been suffering all this time, and for Qifrey that only adds to his guilt.
a little deep dive on agott and olruggio's relationship
this got way longer than i expected lmao. so out of all the kids, we definitely see olruggio be hardest on agott.
of course, agott's behavior is the one that needs correcting the most so that plays into it too, but it reveals a lot to us about the two of them. olruggio doesn't hesitate to correct her if he feels the need. it adds a familiarity between them that runs pretty deep. olruggio isn't afraid to push her, he knows her faults, he probably understands a lot about the pressure agott feels from his own childhood.
we know olruggio was a prodigy as a child. his village received multiple adult witches in exchange for just him before he even had a master. so i expect he can recognize what agott's going through. being under massive pressure to reach your potential.
his conversation with her when he tells her no to joining the silver eve procession is such a good one. it's really interesting to me that olruggio is giving permission here, not qifrey. maybe qifrey defers to him since he has more experience in the procession. but he's making important decisions for someone else's students.
is this common for watchful eyes i wonder or is this just him lol. my impression is they just have to keep an eye on things, not necessarily get involved. olly doesn't really feel impartial enough to be qifrey's watchful eye in all honesty. i bet beldaruit pulled strings for his favorite former apprentice.
back to this convo, olly is v no nonsense in this conversation. not smiling, not hiding how unimpressed he is. he doesn't wilt at all in the face of agott's anger. have we seen agott get this angry at qifrey before? maybe when she wants to take the second test?
and agott looks miserable when he tells her the truth. he cuts through her defenses quick, no fluff. he doesn't hesitate to tell the kids the truth and keep them in check. she's upset she can't participate in the procession, but she's also upset she got corrected by olruggio again in a pretty intense way. a very personal way.
the conversation was enough to push her into running away from him physically. his words hold a lot of weight with her and she doesn't get what she wants, but agott also knew he wouldn't say yes going into it.
i love this conversation agott has with qifrey cause i think it sheds a lot of light on how agott feels about olly.
she still remembers olly's advice from a while ago. what he says is important to her. she knew from the start that master olly would forbid it. (she knows him well) that's probably why he looks so annoyed when she reacts the way she does. he knows how smart she is. he knows she knows. and he's disappointed. she knows the stricter side of him i guess.
and qifrey, who knows olruggio better than anyone steps in. qifrey knows olly's soft side better than anyone, he knows what agott is probably missing cause olly can be grumpy and intimidating. so he fills in the blanks for her. he knows olruggio is never going to explain this side of himself to the kids, so he steps in and shines a light on olruggio’s personality for agott, the part he covers up.
it's important to qifrey, that agott knows olly cares for her. olly's just not good at letting her know that all the time. i wonder if olly's prickly sometimes so that people will stop calling him too nice lol. anyways it's also important to qifrey that agott has a good relationship with olly. qifrey's giving agott insights to his friend so there isn't a miscommunication.
but yeah olruggio doesn't tell agott the whole truth. he leaves out the part about how it's to protect her from the world around her. i get the impression he does this procession every year, so he would be able to clock what the crowd reaction could be.
and i think qifrey knows how important olruggio's opinion is to agott. that's why he says this.
i think you might find olly, too, thinks more highly of you than you imagine. qifrey knows his opinion isn't the only one that holds weight with agott. it's important to him that agott knows olly thinks a lot of her, so she doesn't have to worry about that.
we see olly teach tetia with extreme kindness and empathy.
so he's capable of turning on the kindness when he deems it is warranted.
and i think it's because olruggio ultimately identifies with agott and her struggles to live up to expectation, to push yourself hard. cause he's also seen to be super supportive, trying to help her.
he's excited to help agott with her spell and encourages her. he always has time for the girls, no matter how tired he is. (again are all watchful eyes like that?)
and when she shows the right attitude, he's right there with her. happy to help.
he wants agott to get hands on experience, overriding what qifrey, her actual teacher, wants. he sees her potential and wants her to grow. he'll override qifrey for her sake. agott sees him going to bat for her.
coco also got a view of olruggio's most intimidating vibe when she first meets him. when he almost takes her to the knights bc he's mad at qifrey.
the whole interaction he has with her in his workshop, he's short with her and flustered. not very welcoming.
i hope we get more insight on olly's childhood since we're told he's basically a prodigy. he's a marvel. how does that kind of language effect a little kid who doesn't even have a master yet.
but yeah, he loves agott and they've been together the longest out of all the kids. he sees her potential and doesn't mess around about making sure she reaches it. he probably knows what it's like to be a kid who pushes themselves too hard. he's harder on her than qifrey is and he's not even her teacher. their relationship is so fascinating.
I have a major theory that explains why every action taken by the Knights Moralis actually makes sense, and why this is all one massive Chekhov's gun that has been set up since the very beginning of the manga.
Kamome Shirahama is known for building the world of Witch Hat Atelier down to the patterns carved into furniture. She planted the Silver Tree plotline ten years ago. But why would she write the Knights Moralis so poorly? In the manga they are portraited as very evil antagonists whose only purpose is to stand in the way of children trying to do good.
(English is my second language, so I'm sorry for my mistakes)
Everything they do starts to make sense if we assume that there is some kind of Force / Entity / Powerful Magic above humans and witches. It either intimidates and controls the world, or at times shows it favor.
However, the only people who know about it are the two sages and Vinanna's successor (and probably the king as well).
Lagrah had only just assumed his position. It was literally his first day on the job, so nobody had time to tell him.
Now, let's take a look:
Chapter 57 ^
It's the first chapter in which the Knights Moralis are the focus of the story. Almost immediately Easthies nearly lets it slip that they are not the ones to make the final decisions.
But there is no authority above the knights in Zozah.
If not you, then who?
Chapter 75 ^
The next time we hear about this is three years later.
This is the chapter where Coco tries to convince everyone to use the Time Reversal spell against the leech. Vinanna doesn't like the idea. She is surprised that Beldaruit, of all people, approved it. He should have understood the consequences of using the forbidden magic.
Then Vinanna says a coded phrase that only the two of them know. As the second sage, Beldaruit immediately understands what she is referring to. Neither Coco nor we, the readers, do.
This is the first mention of the "Anomaly" (I'll call it like that, based on Chapter 97).
To witness this Anomaly either means to receive permission to use forbidden magic (keep this point in mind, it will be important when we get to Easthies), or, conversely, to be reminded of the consequences of doing so.
Vinanna chooses the first version.
Chapter 80^
When this chapter came out, we started thinking (well, I did) that Easthies had some deep trauma related to forbidden magic.
We thought that it was PTSD. That he snapped, attacked people and even his superiors while being confused. And that once we we had learned about his past, we would have cried, forgiven and loved him.
NO.
Remember that Easthies is the only person present, aside from Beldaruit and Vinanna, who knows about this Force/Anomaly in the sky. And what It will do to them, if people start using forbidden magic on a large scale.
He was so terrified that he immediately rushed to erase the memories of everyone involved as soon as he heard the plan. At the same time, he wasn't erasing all of their memories. Only connected to that day's forbidden magic.
And as we learned from chapter 97, he did it with a clear mind, fully aware of his actions.
To him, it is better to let the leech devour the city than to allow whatever is above them to happen.
"What is it that burdens you?" Lulucy asks.
And behind Easthies we see a serious and tired Beldaruit, who, like Easthies, carries the burden of knowing what hangs above them.
The question is addressed to both of them.
Chapter 79 ^
Why did I ask you to remember what I said about Vinanna earlier?
Vinanna had seen the Anomaly and knew that the permission to use the forbidden magic had been given that night.
But she didn't have time to tell Easthies.
In fact, she was trying to tell him right in the chapter. We just didn't realize what she was trying to say at the time.
Easthies decided that his captain had lost her mind. That he was the only sane person left who could still save everyone. And so he attacked Vinanna without even listening to her.
And that's the only thing he was condemned for. Otherwise, he wouldn't have faced any consequences for his rampage.
Attacked civilians and erased people's memories?
Pfff fair
Vinanna completely understands his actions and would have done exactly the same thing herself, if the Anomaly in the sky hadn't given her permission to break the law.
That's how terrifying this thing hanging above them is.
The Scales ^
Throughout the entire manga we're constantly reminded how important the balance between humans and witches is. Otherwise, something terrible will happen. But we're never told exactly what.
(The Anomaly in the sky will punish them. That's what.)
Beldaruit's entire arc with King Deanreldy revolves around this.
Beldaruit knows what consequences the Anomaly will bring, if that balance is lost, and he does everything he can to oppose the king.
The manga tells us that after the Silver Night the scales tipped in favor of the witches because they were the ones who saved everyone.
And that was before...
Chapter 88 ^
THE KING KNELT BEFORE THE WITCHES.
Lagrah doesn't understand what's happening. Beldaruit, on the other hand, is absolutely horrified.
He wasn't this frightened even when the entire city was being devoured by the Leech.
The balance has been completely destroyed.
He's the only person currently conscious who understands the consequences and can see the guillotine hanging above them.
(Vinanna is unconscious, Easthies has been knocked out with sleeping powder, and Lagrah is a newby.)
It's unknown whether the King knew about this Force above them. What kind of power does something have to possess to terrify even a Sage?
Chapter 97 ^
Vinanna finally speaks about the Anomaly directly and says that it absolutely cannot be ignored.
The Sages have their secrets. So does Vinanna, and she will share them only with her future successor.
Easthies is depressed, sitting alone in his quarters.
No position. No support. No understanding. But even so, he doesn't regret his actions. And he is still prepared to erase the memories of an entire city, if that's what it takes to save the world from whatever is threatening it.
WHAT is it?
He's not a fanatic. He simply knows too much and can't tell anyone else. (Even if you take away his pudding.)
Conclusion:
We have some kind of Anomaly that terrifies the Sages, and the Sages, in turn, terrify everyone else in an attempt to save the world.
But we can only piece this together through the clues scattered throughout the story.
So if erasing the memories of an entire city is safer than leaving things as they are, then erasing the memories of a twelve-year-old girl at the very first sign of forbidden magic is even more justified.
The world is falling apart.
The Knights are trying to keep it from plunging into the abyss.
The Brimhats are swinging the scales around.
The Anomaly officially exists.
And it turns out I wasn't losing my mind for the last fifty chapters.
Thank you all for coming to my TED Talk.
And thanks to Commander Effie for helping me with English ^^
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