Champignon Witch

Episode 11

If there are black witches and white witches, could there also be grey witches? Because right now, that's what the Bird Magician is looking like to me. While there's something to be said for hiding right under the white witches' collective nose in the palace, there's still too much that doesn't quite add up. For one, Henri specifically thought of his tower as a “safe place” where he, Luna, and the Wind Magician could talk without being overheard, and if Henri, who is admittedly much kinder than most of the other white-aligned characters, knows he's there, that suggests that others do as well. Lize also remarks that the Bird Magician looks like a white witch, and since Lize is confirmed to be the crown prince, that implies that, back in his prior life, he also knew the Bird Magician was there. So what if this member of the Council of Black Witches is actually also a member of the royal family? Does he present a possible path forward for Lize?

It doesn't feel like that much of a stretch, especially when you consider that he's one of the few who spoke up for Lize in the beginning. Add to that the fact that one of the other black magicians is aligned with flowers and Lize's skill allows him to draw out his poison in the form of wolfsbane, a poisonous flower, and things are suddenly looking a lot less clear cut. It's one thing for the Cat Witch and the Mouse Magician to be aligned with the black mages – cats and witches have a long association and mice are considered “nuisance” (or “bad”) animals. But plants, even poisonous ones, tend to have more positive associations. (Fungi, not so much.) Birds are the same; some are reviled, like seagulls – or dump ducks, one of their less flattering nicknames – some are feared, like owls and ravens, and others are beloved, like the many songbirds we see in the Bird Magician's tower. Birds and plants are, therefore, the perfect specializations for grey magicians, if such a thing were to exist within Champignon Witch's world.

It also fits with the ongoing fairy tale theme. ATU451, The Brothers Who Were Turned into Birds, is a tale type that has a girl's brothers transformed by a wicked stepmother who resents their existence. The girl then has to go on a quest to turn them back, but for our purposes here, the important detail is that the boys aren't bad. They aren't being punished for wrongdoing. They're simply in someone's way, and it's up to someone who cares about them to undo the transformation. The Bird Magician's existence – and Claude's and now Maximillian's – are our hints that this story is being used to raise the possibility of a positive end to transformation. Whether we see Luna as being the sister who helps Lize return to his true self or Lize as both brother and sister in one character, the implication is that he can be redeemed.

It's interesting that this episode's second half unfolds in a tower. I've said before that Lize is very princess-coded, and this adds a bit of Rapunzel to the mix. The Wind Magician, with his lackadaisical whim to kill the boy, appears as something of a Gothel figure, the villain determined to destroy the princess for perceived transgressions. In this case, Lize's “transgression” is not having worked fast enough to master magic, and what's particularly interesting is that the Wind Magician doesn't blame Luna for her part in it. Lize is aware that his issues stem at least in part from Luna's desire to protect him, which is why he's able to manifest his poison as wolfsbane. (Yes, I think that's a symbolic choice, given Luna's red hood.) But all the Wind Magician cares about is that he's “ruined.” And if he's not pure enough for the Council, he can't be allowed to exist to potentially spread his ruin to others.

There's only one episode left of this show, per the interview we did with the director. That's obviously not enough time to wrap things up. But it may be enough to give Lize the chance he needs to prove he's no damsel in distress, if not for Luna to reconcile her buried feelings for Henri – feelings he may still share. A happy ending doesn't look the same for everyone, but I'm willing to see what it will be for this group…especially if it shuts the Wind Magician up.

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