Lian watches Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Episode 10
Episode 10: "I won't rely on anyone anymore"
1. Sayaka's body is rotting in Kyoko's bed. Just a thought.
2. Going from one horrible and depressing thing to another, we are finally told Homura's full story and high heavens, it is heartbreaking. She was a sick, shy and socially awkward girl who was dazzled by Madoka's vivaciouness and kindness, and ended up witnessing her death at the hands of the Walpurgis witch. As a result, she made a wish:
*
She wanted to save Madoka, because not only did Madoka save her from a witch and sacrifice herself for the sake of an entire city, but also because Madoka is a wonderful human being who touched Homura's life with kindness.
3. The spiral she gets into begins optimistically, as she learns to fight and comes to love Madoka even more. Her first attempt at changing history ends with Madoka becoming a witch, so Homura is sent back (sends herself back?) to the drawing board.
4. I know I'm not the only one who asks herself why Homura didn't try to just tell the girls the truth about Kyubey. Well, as it turns out, she did try to do it once, only to be brushed off by Sayaka and suspected of working with Kyoko. She then has her abilities and usefulness as a magical girl questioned by Sayaka when she points out that she should have other weapons aside explosives, as they tend to be dangerous for the team. Homura, not having yet the iron spine which she develops through pure determination later in the story, and still unsure of her abilities and place within the team, drops the subject of Kyubey and raids what appears to be a Yakuza or police weapons room.
The story makes it known that simply telling the truth to the girls would not be as easy as expected. Not only does Homura need to tell them everything for it to make even a bit of sense, but the truth is so outlandish to begin with, and her position as the least experienced member of the group is so uncertain that she has higher chances of alienating her friends instead of being believed. Not to mention that she doesn't know Kyubey's whole plan so she cannot answer the question regarding why he would trick the girls. Much like Madoka in the current timeline, Homura gets bits and pieces of the truth through multiple attempts at saving her beloved friend.
5. Sayaka succumbs to dispair and becomes Octavia, and it's interesting to spot several familiars looking like Hitomi in this timeline.
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6. OH MY GOD. Remember a few episodes back, when Kyubey said that Mami died without knowing the truth about what she had become? Now we know how she would have reacted if she knew. She is so affected by the gruesome truth that she murders Kyoko on the spot by shooting her soul gem and plans to do the same to Homura and Madoka, leaving poor Madoka with no choice but to kill her. I've seen her reaction being described as "snapping", but it's not correct. Although I'm certain she acted under absolute existential terror, Mami believed that she was doing a favor to the girls, and her actions were very calculated. Notice how she first immobilizes Homura, to make sure she will not interfere using her time abilities. Then she shoots Kyoko because Kyoko would have been the first to react. She leaves Madoka for last because Mami believed her to be too gentle to attack her, and this proves to be her mistake.
I am so traumatized by this series, guys. Much more than by other graphic, violent series.
Oh, and one more thing: this scene right here proves that it is downright dangerous for girls to know the truth.
7. And the trauma conga continues for everybody involved, as not only does Madoka save Homura once again when they are both on the brink of succumbing to anguish and becoming witches, but she also asks her for a mercy kill, which devastates Homura and makes me want to cry my eyes out.
I can't decide which one of them I love more.
*
8. After seeing her friends die and being forced to kill two of them, Homura's heart hardens and she decides to work on her own. She loses hope that others will believe her and decides to try and save Madoka alone. It works until the final confrontation with the Walpurgis, when we are treated to the sequence from the first episode, as we finally understand it and hear what Homura was really saying.
(Note from the future: Kyubey tells Madoka she has the power to change fate and all the unavoidable destruction and sorrow. He is more right than he knows.)
9. Madoka becomes a splendid magical girl, and destroys the Walpurgis witch in one hit, after which she turns into a massive witch, ready to destroy the planet within about week. It's implied that the bigger the wish. the stronger the magical girl and in consequence, the witch will be. Homura waiting so long has inadvertently allowed Madoka to become a menace for the planet.
As for Kyubey, he washes his paws of this, unconcerned with the fate of the planet he had been plaguing.
*
I'm going home in time for dinner!
His mission complete, he wishes to return to the festering cesspool he crawled out from, leaving behind a planetfull of humans in mortal peril. So when he was talking about sacrificing a few to save the rest, he was talking on a planetary scale. WE ARE NOT DYING SO YOUR DISGUSTING LITTLE RACE CAN LIVE, YOU FUCKWIT.
10. I like how the flashback episode ends with the opening theme, as we are finally up-to-date with this soul-tearing story.
1. Sayaka's body is rotting in Kyoko's bed. Just a thought.
2. Going from one horrible and depressing thing to another, we are finally told Homura's full story and high heavens, it is heartbreaking. She was a sick, shy and socially awkward girl who was dazzled by Madoka's vivaciouness and kindness, and ended up witnessing her death at the hands of the Walpurgis witch. As a result, she made a wish:
*
She wanted to save Madoka, because not only did Madoka save her from a witch and sacrifice herself for the sake of an entire city, but also because Madoka is a wonderful human being who touched Homura's life with kindness.
3. The spiral she gets into begins optimistically, as she learns to fight and comes to love Madoka even more. Her first attempt at changing history ends with Madoka becoming a witch, so Homura is sent back (sends herself back?) to the drawing board.
4. I know I'm not the only one who asks herself why Homura didn't try to just tell the girls the truth about Kyubey. Well, as it turns out, she did try to do it once, only to be brushed off by Sayaka and suspected of working with Kyoko. She then has her abilities and usefulness as a magical girl questioned by Sayaka when she points out that she should have other weapons aside explosives, as they tend to be dangerous for the team. Homura, not having yet the iron spine which she develops through pure determination later in the story, and still unsure of her abilities and place within the team, drops the subject of Kyubey and raids what appears to be a Yakuza or police weapons room.
The story makes it known that simply telling the truth to the girls would not be as easy as expected. Not only does Homura need to tell them everything for it to make even a bit of sense, but the truth is so outlandish to begin with, and her position as the least experienced member of the group is so uncertain that she has higher chances of alienating her friends instead of being believed. Not to mention that she doesn't know Kyubey's whole plan so she cannot answer the question regarding why he would trick the girls. Much like Madoka in the current timeline, Homura gets bits and pieces of the truth through multiple attempts at saving her beloved friend.
5. Sayaka succumbs to dispair and becomes Octavia, and it's interesting to spot several familiars looking like Hitomi in this timeline.
*
*
6. OH MY GOD. Remember a few episodes back, when Kyubey said that Mami died without knowing the truth about what she had become? Now we know how she would have reacted if she knew. She is so affected by the gruesome truth that she murders Kyoko on the spot by shooting her soul gem and plans to do the same to Homura and Madoka, leaving poor Madoka with no choice but to kill her. I've seen her reaction being described as "snapping", but it's not correct. Although I'm certain she acted under absolute existential terror, Mami believed that she was doing a favor to the girls, and her actions were very calculated. Notice how she first immobilizes Homura, to make sure she will not interfere using her time abilities. Then she shoots Kyoko because Kyoko would have been the first to react. She leaves Madoka for last because Mami believed her to be too gentle to attack her, and this proves to be her mistake.
I am so traumatized by this series, guys. Much more than by other graphic, violent series.
Oh, and one more thing: this scene right here proves that it is downright dangerous for girls to know the truth.
7. And the trauma conga continues for everybody involved, as not only does Madoka save Homura once again when they are both on the brink of succumbing to anguish and becoming witches, but she also asks her for a mercy kill, which devastates Homura and makes me want to cry my eyes out.
I can't decide which one of them I love more.
*
8. After seeing her friends die and being forced to kill two of them, Homura's heart hardens and she decides to work on her own. She loses hope that others will believe her and decides to try and save Madoka alone. It works until the final confrontation with the Walpurgis, when we are treated to the sequence from the first episode, as we finally understand it and hear what Homura was really saying.
(Note from the future: Kyubey tells Madoka she has the power to change fate and all the unavoidable destruction and sorrow. He is more right than he knows.)
9. Madoka becomes a splendid magical girl, and destroys the Walpurgis witch in one hit, after which she turns into a massive witch, ready to destroy the planet within about week. It's implied that the bigger the wish. the stronger the magical girl and in consequence, the witch will be. Homura waiting so long has inadvertently allowed Madoka to become a menace for the planet.
As for Kyubey, he washes his paws of this, unconcerned with the fate of the planet he had been plaguing.
*
I'm going home in time for dinner!
His mission complete, he wishes to return to the festering cesspool he crawled out from, leaving behind a planetfull of humans in mortal peril. So when he was talking about sacrificing a few to save the rest, he was talking on a planetary scale. WE ARE NOT DYING SO YOUR DISGUSTING LITTLE RACE CAN LIVE, YOU FUCKWIT.
10. I like how the flashback episode ends with the opening theme, as we are finally up-to-date with this soul-tearing story.