Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc

Episode 12

Black Butler's relationship with history is a mixed bag, at least in part because when Yana Toboso started it, she didn't know anything about the Victorian era (per her notes in manga volume one). But for all its other issues (one of which is definitely Sebastian and Ciel taking Sieglinde to a tailor rather than a modiste for her wardrobe), Sieglinde's new haircut isn't one of them – look no further than Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice. Just, uh, be careful looking up some of Carroll's other photographs of little girls…

Sieglinde's arrival on English soil and her escape from Germany are almost afterthoughts this week. The real meat of the episode concerns more of the supernatural element of Black Butler's world – the grim reapers and our old friend Undertaker. The latter turned up to visit Diedrich at some point during the series, while we were occupied with Ciel and Sebastian in the hidden village. What he wanted, perhaps, isn't entirely clear (beyond baiting Diederich, of course), but he makes a few interesting remarks on the subject of the Earls of Phantomhive. His cryptic statements are at least two-fold; first he notes that Ciel's father was “all burnt up” and that there's no coming back from that sort of death, which seems to imply that there are other deaths that can be bounced back from – while also leading my mystery-reading mind to wonder if perhaps Vincent is not as dead as we're all assuming. After all, you can't tell much from burnt bones in a time before dental records. Undertaker then goes on to mention “the other Earl Phantomhive,” which sets Ciel's teeth on edge. Yes, Undertaker could be talking about Ciel himself, but think back to his delirium in the middle of the series. There seemed to be two Ciels at that point, which should make us wonder if there wasn't the proverbial heir and a spare. What if the Phantomhives had twins and kept one of them from public view? Melodramatic and difficult, yes, but also a tried-and-true mystery manga element – just recently I've seen it used in both Don't Call It Mystery and Usotoki Rhetoric. It would explain those dreams Ciel was having…

The grim reapers also bring up a key point of lore that stands to have repercussions going forward. Sascha and Ludger reveal that grim reapers are the souls of those who committed suicide (and warning, this week has some decently graphic imagery on the subject), who are being punished for the sin of taking their own life. Thus, being a reaper isn't meant to be as enjoyable a job as Sascha and Grell find it; Sascha specifically says that he's having more fun in death than he ever had alive, which is a hell of a take. Sascha in particular enjoys seeing how people die and how they subvert the universe's expectations – the fact that he has Sieglinde and Wolfram's files with him seems to imply that they were originally slated for death. But instead, he notes, both mustard gas and its creator are bound for England, and he and Ludger both predict that war between at least England and Germany can't be far behind. Again, this seems to imply that World War One would have happened a lot sooner were it not for Ciel and Sebastian's interventions, and it was only their actions that prevented it from erupting in 1890 rather than 1914.

Sascha delights in the unpredictability of human nature and the threat of war. He finds them fun. He's completely divorced from the reality of the toll war can (and will, in the case of WWI) take. He also remarks that he suspects that Sebastian is much the same, and that may well be true. Unlike Wolfram, who does everything out of love for Sieglinde, Sebastian has his own, darker pact and motivations. I think he does care for Ciel as much as he's able. But he's also going to follow his demonic heart, where Wolfram denounced his “werewolf” ways for his pseudo-daughter. They may have looked similar when this season started, but they're actually foils.

As this season gets ready to wrap up, the parallels between the two butler/master pairs become important. Queen Victoria could be said to be using them both, because even in the 1880s, a thirteen-year-old was still considered a child, and she was using one to do some of her dirty work. Will there ever be a day when she marks his file “abgeschlossen,” or “complete,” as the grim reapers do? If Lizzie's reaction to Sieglinde's presence at the Phantomhive residence is as explosive as I'm thinking, she may have no choice…

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Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.