witch hat atelier theory regarding qifrey + olruggio + silvertree + memory wipes
edit: i've added onto this theory here by comparing olly's seal to the knights moralis one + what could happen as this unravels here
re-reading the chapters that show the flashback of qifrey and olly as kids i can't help but think there's more to olly's idea of having his memory wiped to save quifrey...
there's an ever present theme of olly and lying throughout the series.
one of the first things olly teaches qifrey is how to smile to sell a lie
and one of the first things that stood out to me when olly was presenting his idea about the memory wipe to qirey was how much olly is smiling...
olly giving qifrey thee same smile qifrey gives him later...
maybe he's smiling so hard to make qifrey feel better, but maybe he's smiling so hard cause he needs qifrey to believe his half-truth.
"just think of it as telling lies only a friend would make" can work both ways. and "you told me i wouldn't have to lie to anymore" well, maybe qifrey's lie was never really a lie in the first place. not really. it was apart of the plan.
we never see olly go into the tower, we never see what he found in there. he goes in there with the knowledge that the memory wipes are what has fixed this before. he's going in for a way to help qifrey that doesn't involve wiping qifrey's memory.
also, olly's trip to the tower is timed. he needs to get there, find a solution, and get back before the tree fully takes over qifrey. he doesn't have a lot of time to figure this all out in. the circumstances couldn't be more stressful.
so what if his memory wipe solution is just a stop gap. he finds bits and pieces about the silvertreee in the tower that could help him, but he doesn't have the time to fully put it together or figure out a spell to get rid of the silvertree. so instead, he comes up with the memory wipe idea to buy himself time.
and maybe the plan is partially true, maybe he does lose his memory, but maybe not permanently. maybe there's something about his seal that means at the end of the day, he does remember about the silvertree.
and in the meantime, his plan works. it turns qifrey back. qifrey's guilty conscious keeps the tree at bay.
you cut to the scene with olly waking up after the memory wipe.... who wakes up with one eye open π€ and the "peep" is so suspicious. he's peeping to make sure it's a good time to pretend to wake up. qifrey's away from him so he can sell the lie better.
and the story shows us what a lil lying scamp he is. no problem lying to the teachers to sneak out.
+ the way we get his perspective on lying...
sometimes in life you just have to lie!
he'll stop lying when qifrey is safe.
olly knows how much qifrey wants to keep him safe. he knows qifrey wouldn't allow him to spend all his time trying to get rid of the silvertree completely. better yet, knowing olly was trying to figure this out, knowing that olly knows about the silvertree and still has hope to fix it, would only make qifrey feel safe. olly had to lie to him so qifrey doesn't take any comfort from the situation.
and it keeps happening right? olly will "figure it out" and they repeat the process. he reacts the exact same every time... almost like he's following a script. and we've established he's a good ass liar so he knows he can sell it.
like of course he forgives you ever time. he's lying to you worse. and maybe olly can tell when the tree is getting bad, he can tell when qifrey is bad. so olly's revelations always come when qifrey need a reset with the tree.
the spell qifrey uses to wipe olly's memory is the spell olly himself created.
maybe there's something hidden in that sigil that qifrey can't see.
i think it's notable that olly's spell looks different to the other mind wipe spells we see.
or maybe, the spell olly first created had an element that the one qifrey replicated didn't. maybe the subsequent memory wipes are real, but the first one isn't and so olly remembers what he needs to.
throughout the story we're reminded that olly is brilliant. he's an inventor. who else would be able to invent a spell or a cure for the silvertree if not him?
and fast forward to when they're adults. olly never sleeps and drinks too much. bc he's stressed about building contraptions on a deadline, which i'm sure plays into it, but what if he's also never sleeping bc he's also trying to research the silvertree. he's trying to handle his responsibilities as a witch while researching what is probably forbidden magic or maybe researching something that hasn't been done before.
and he drinks too much bc the guilt of his lie is killing him too. qifrey feels miserable about lying to olly but olly's lie is even bigger. he's running himself into the ground with researching the silvertree and attending to his other responsibilities. and he drinks bc it's taking so long for him to figure out. he's angry with himself for not having a solution yet. but i don't think it's ever been done before. it'll take time. maybe there's a component he needs that he can't find.
there's this line utowin says to olly about how he would never lie, right? bc he lied about where euini is, but again maybe there's an overarching theme here. olly is a liar. he is qifrey's watchful eye but does he ever tell the truth in the way he's supposed to? does he report on everything he should be reporting on in his atelier? hmm no.
and at one point qifrey even says "i thought you'd be good at lying". well! maybe olly is good at lying! he taught you how to lie after all, but again this theme of olly + lying is discussed.
"the only books it lets you find and leave with... are the ones your heart is looking for." he left with books in his pocket that give him some of the information he needs, but olly himself has to be the one to find the solution, but his heart would have been looking for a way to fix qifrey.
i just find it hard to believe that "the kindest, most radiant star" would settle on a solution that keeps qifrey miserable for the rest of his life. that's no solution. he makes qifrey promise to stay alive so olly will have the time to figure it out. the kindest, most radiant star would do anything to make qifrey feel safe.
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