The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold To Another Kingdom

Episode 11

Does Julius deserve to be saved? Almost certainly not; he's been, to put it mildly, a pain in the ass ever since episode one. But the bigger question this episode asks is, “Will Philia let him die?” And the answer to that, I'm afraid, is no – because that's just not who she is. There are philosophical debates to be had on the subject of whether or not everyone deserves a second (third, fourth…) chance no matter what they've done, but I'm not sure that that's really what Philia is considering when Asmodeus threatens to kill her erstwhile fiancé. For her, the bigger issue is going against her saintly training. We've seen time and time again in this series how Philia will always put herself last, no matter what the cost. It's what her “aunt” taught her: the people of the kingdom always come first, and who's more “of the kingdom” than its prince? Not saving Julius would go against the core of who she was taught to be.

That's what makes Osvalt's arrival on the scene so rewarding. Yes, there's some of that “save the woman he loves” stuff in there as part of the appeal, because up until last week, Osvalt has largely swanned around without doing anything major. He's a good man, but not, perhaps, an ambitious one. Philia's declaration of conscience last week, where she was determined to return to Girtonia to save her sister, jollied him out of his comfortable complaisance, and now this week, when he thinks he's going to lose her forever, his inner Prince Charming bursts to the fore. And you know what? Philia expects that. She allows Asmodeus to capture her because she never for a minute doubts that Osvalt will come to help her. She trusts him, and as we know, that's not something that comes easily to her. Both Philia and Osvalt break free of their comfort zones for each other, and that's lovely.

It's also interesting to note that Osvalt is one of the people who has never lied to her, either to her face or by omission. Not that I think Philia blames Mia for keeping the truth about Hildegarde from her; Mia was in an awful place and feeling guilty. Her feelings for her aunt/mother/teacher are less clear – where Mia is angry at the deception, Philia seems not to know what to make of the revelation. She doesn't seem pleased, and Asmodeus isn't wrong when he observes that Hildegarde was vicious in her training. But Osvalt currently comes with less baggage and a puppylike heart. He's free from guile or guilt, and that's what Philia needs right now.

What she does not need is Julius or Asmodeus and their twisted versions of love. Not that Julius is capable of loving anyone but himself, but Asmodeus may genuinely have been in love with Fianna. But that's warped over the years of his imprisonment, and then choosing Julius of all people as his vessel can't have helped; we know he can read minds or absorb feelings. Demons may not be inherently bad – Mammon's more obnoxious than evil – but Asmodeus' actions are far from good. He was probably always like that, and I don't think we can fool ourselves that Fianna could have “fixed” him, which means that Philia couldn't either.

Things are down to the wire now. It's up to Philia and Osvalt to dispatch Asmodeus (and probably rescue Julius, who ought to go straight to maximum security prison), but it's also up to Mia and Hildegarde to come to terms with what was done, either knowingly or inadvertently, to Philia. I don't think any of this will break the bond Philia and Mia share.

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The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold To Another Kingdom is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Wednesdays.