The Holy Grail of Eris

Episode 8

Did Scarlett Castiel really matter? This week we learn the truth behind her execution, that it was her own father who sent her to the gallows in a bid to stop the so-called Holy Grail of Eris, a plan to install Scarlett as the puppet queen of Faris on the Adelbide throne. Scarlett herself didn't know anything about it – she was simply living her life, unaware of the machinations of those around her. It's particularly cruel because it has so little to do with Scarlett as a person. She may not have been the kindest person, but she was full of life and people loved her. Two of them were Lily Orlamunde and Prince Enrique, both of whom are the overlooked victims in all of this. Lily, who turns out to have been as good as she was believed to be, never got over her friend Scarlett's death, and spent the eight years she lived in a post-Scarlett world trying to find out the truth of what happened.

Enrique is still living his nightmare, wedded to the woman who helped to orchestrate his fiancée's demise and who perhaps originally intended to remove Enrique from the line of succession (if not from life) in order to make Faris' plan a reality. The prince told Lily that Scarlett's execution was mandated by the king, who presumably also forced him to marry Cecilia. If Cecilia was under the king's control as the crown princess, she wouldn't be able to actively work against the crown, at least not easily. Is that worth sacrificing a seventeen-year-old girl's life? Obviously men in power would say yes. But when have men in power ever cared about seventeen-year-old girls' wellbeing?

There's a real tragedy underlying this story that has little to do with Scarlett's death. I don't want to downplay that, because it was both unnecessary and awful, but she's only the most obvious victim. Lily was a victim, one who chose her own death rather than wait for it to come find her. Enrique was a victim, made a pawn in a game he barely understands. Randolph was a victim, marrying Lily without truly understanding what it is she was asking for with their mariage blanc, something that his quiet sob this week makes abundantly clear. And who knows how many other lives were altered or destroyed because those men in power wanted something to happen?

And now, with the plan on the verge of fruition once again, was any of what happened ten years ago worth it?

The tragedies of the past risk happening again in the present. Cecilia is clearly still up to her old tricks, and the information that Lily gave up her life for may only be a drop in the bucket. But what could prevent all of it is Constance. Remember last week when I said that Amelia and Connie were character types taken from other genres of fiction? That's important. There was no intrepid girl reporter ten years ago, and whatever Amelia's faults, she's good at her role. And there wasn't a lady sleuth before either, and that might be the most important addition to the story. If Connie had been there ten years ago, maybe the trick with the earrings wouldn't have worked. Lily wouldn't have had to go it alone. Randolph didn't have enough information to help, and that's not his character type, anyway – he had to lose Lily to become the sort of cop who bucks the rules.

People make a bit of a joke out of the Grail Sincerity, but that's what stands to make the difference. Connie's version of that attribute is her determination to do right by people, and that's led her to solve the mystery of Lily's death. Now she wants, if not justice, then solace for Scarlett. It's not going to be easy. But nothing stands in the way of Grail sincerity.

History will not repeat again. Hopefully.

Rating:

The Holy Grail of Eris is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.