Forum - View topicMaria the Virgin Witch (TV).
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2848 |
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Even her brethren are saying exactly the same things which Maria doesn't want to hear. A picture of Maria does become much clearer after this episode, that of spoiler[the good samaritan who will do all she can to help those around her, but even with her magic cannot be everywhere at once and thus is restricted by physical distance. Her ambition to stop wars worldwide is a contradiction though. By the looks of things, she doesn't force her help on those too blinkered to accept it. ]
Poor Priapos the Kitchen Boy. I wonder if he'll ever "graduate" to his full job description by the end of the show... Very medieval concept of remembrance, but it's implicit that the old man never had to go through it all in the first place had the village (led by the local clergy) not rejected the offer for salvation. Last edited by Harleyquin on Sun Feb 01, 2015 12:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15464 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 4
The irony that Ezekiel uses the fact Mariaspoiler[ did not save a village as proof that she is not truly a good person, when in fact the reason she could not help them was because of the church]. There is quite a bit to say about the difference of blind faith over faith in someone that could help. Based on what Ezekiel slipped out, I think that there might be the chance spoiler[Maria could become a god of peace if enough people get faith in her]. I am guessing that is what is going to happen. I was not so interested in the ED before which looked like it showed random images and her as a child, but after this episode I did that there was relevance with things like her looking at the mural and a window to her childhood. |
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HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
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Why was Maria so sanguine about VIv's suggestion to take a man if it meant that she would lose her powers if she did? I would have thought that would have been the first thing she would mention in protest.
And gee, Viv. If you want to have one put on him why don't you do it yourself?
The medieval Church's attitude was so maddening but it is actually quite consistent. You have to always keep in mind that they were far more covetous of holding secular power than they were actually concerned with the welfare of their flock. A witch -- or anyone -- who could actually help people was a direct threat to their authority and so by definition evil and something that must be shunned or destroyed. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11363 |
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Maria and Joseph, how the hell did I miss that for so long. >.<
I guess the dark shadow figure will descend upon Maria, and she and Joseph will run off to the nearest stable to give virgin birth to the Antichrist. 
Though I'm sure he'd be delighted if she did, he's not her familiar. Doing so would surely be a serious breach of etiquette at the least, and might not even be possible. And I agree that it seemed odd that she wasn't concerned at all about her losing powers. I'm enjoying this series more with each episode. Especially the squabbling between the owls and the squab. Last edited by Gina Szanboti on Sun Feb 01, 2015 9:15 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23779 |
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I think the other thing that is at play is the idea that it is better to follow God's word on Earth and thereby gain entrance to Heaven (theoretically) than to defy Him and perhaps live longer, but also ensure your descent into Hell. That's why the villagers spurned Maria's help. What does it matter if you survive the plague, but by taking help from an infidel, you go to Hell after tacking some extra time onto your life?
As an atheist, it's not an idea that holds a lot of sway with me, but if you look at it from the perspective of a true believer it makes sense. According to the Christian worldview, mortal life is supposed to be a vale of tears that tests your faith. But if you stay strong, no matter how much your life blows, you get your eternal reward eventually. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15464 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I only noticed last week. |
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HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
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Are you guys thinking of Mary and Joseph? I am not aware of the biblical significance of Maria and Joseph unless you accept Maria as an alternate spelling of Mary. There is actually a famous church in Lima named Maria and Joseph. If that is the case it would seem that this relationship was a few centuries too late. The church is already rollin. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15464 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Well I don't know a lot about names and different languages, but the show keeps referring to Maria to being like the biblical virgin's name. And according to Wikipedia, "Mary" is the English version of the name being "Maryam" or "Mariam", so I was thinking that "Maria" could simply be the era and culture appropriate version. |
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ChibiKangaroo
 Posts: 2941 |
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Ugh, episode 4 was another meh episode. We got a little bit more development via the plague village which was nice, but the whole Viv + Priapus bit was really bad. As someone else mentioned already, it also kind of made no sense that Maria was suddenly so wishy washy about losing her virginity when that would also mean she couldn't do magic anymore. It felt almost like the writers momentarily forgot about what her character was all about just for the purpose of having some fun sexy shenanigans.
This show is losing a bit of its luster for me. It's still kind of hovering around B quality right now, but it's definitely not in the A range anymore. Maybe I got my expectations raised too high from that excellent start. |
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jroa
Posts: 537 |
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Well, ChibiKangaroo, you can always rate a few of these episodes a little lower and give a higher score to those that deserve more of your appreciation. I do think it's still too soon to generalize about the entire show, since a lot of things can happen from here to episode 12 (or 13).
In my case, I'd say Maria was just caught off guard when Viv suddenly dropped her more business-like talk about the other witches and simply approached her as one girl speaking to another about sex. Of course the point of the scene focused on the comedy at that moment, but I think it also makes sense from a more general perspective. Maria is curious about the subject, even if she has no intention of just quietly giving up . In other words, it was an appeal to emotion rather than to logic. It wouldn't have gone very far, in practice, but it was enough to put her in an awkward position. Maria might have a lot of ideals but she is, at heart, a human girl. Neither of these characters are supposed to be mature adults, even if Viv is apparently more experienced, so I don't think a moment of distraction is such a big deal here. That said, though these scenes didn't bother me, I did enjoy the rest of the episode a lot more with the visit to Martha and the story about how Maria had tried (and failed) to save another village. That's certainly more relevant to the narrative framework as a whole. Also, it looks like the next episode will focus more on Joseph and Galfa for a change. |
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Yttrbio
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Of course, if we look at the consequences, it's more than losing her power, it's losing her ability to stop fights. But either she does that because she can (and if she gets laid, that becomes a non-issue), or she does it because she feels obligated to, in which case she really is thinking about becoming a god, in a sense. That's the self-reflection that God is trying to force her to do. I think it fits her character perfectly to refuse to engage in it by not including the curse in her thought process, especially in front of other people. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11363 |
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Actually, I accept Mary as an alternate English spelling of Miryam. 
Mary: Usual English form of Maria, which was the Latin form of the New Testament Greek names Μαριαμ (Mariam) and Μαρια (Maria) - the spellings are interchangeable - which were from the Hebrew name מִרְיָם (Miryam). Maria is the common form in many European languages, but given that they're in France, it is biblically significant that her name is Maria, rather than the more usual French version, Marie. I think this is why everyone keeps commenting on her being named for the Holy Virgin. If her name was Marie, no one would think twice about it. What I'm looking forward to is more of her backstory. Who were her parents? Do witches have any in this universe? Where did she come from? We've seen her as a young child apparently on her own, already performing magic like a pro. Who taught her? |
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ChibiKangaroo
Posts: 2941 |
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Losing her powers would mean she couldn't help people anymore (medicines, stopping wars, etc...) which, as far as we know, seem to be the only things she cares about. So, I don't think it is within her character at this point to happily throw that away because some sleazy witch from England (who has specifically stated she wants more wars) came over and demanded that she have sex. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15464 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Maria is a healthy young girl she is interested in sex as may be usual, if it came to it she would have turned it down because she wants to keep her powers. Add into facts like she gets her womanhood taken into question over her virginity and it was one of the few times she could talk about the subject with a human girl around her own age on the subject, and is it so odd that she didn't take the subject straight off the table?
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HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
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The thing is the way the script was read it seemed like she was willing/ready to go through with it with only token resistance, at least until Viv started scaring her with first-time stories. Had Viv not gotten distracted with no-pp boy it might have been a done deal. Maybe she was just befuddled, which would be mostly out of character for her. Other than that possibility it seems to be a bit of an anomaly in the story just for a laugh -- I agree much more with your interpretation of where Maria is in her life priorities. |
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