#wha57

Witch Hat Atelier ch57 vs ch66

I wonder who’s really calling the shots and deciding what witches can/cannot learn and same for normal folks then? ‘Cause there’s been enough callout in the whole arc, on top of King Dean (the king of life and death) being sought after by the Brim Hats.

The heated discussion between King Dean and Beldarut in ch59 actually makes so much more sense and makes me think that the 3 Sages are involved in making and upholding these very strict laws. 

Just like I think that King Dean broke the fourth wall in ch59 and directly addressed the readers when he said "it’s useless to tell me not to hope for it. Don’t you agree?”, because most of the fandom at this point indeed agrees that The Secret as it exists now creates a lot of unfair situations, as we saw with Coustas, Dagda, Eunie, Galga, Coco’s mom, etc.

The Knights Moralis’ reactions in ch57 when Atuarto asks for a chance to bring Galga’s memories back and when Tetia offers to help in ch66 are also pretty telling...

...just like the previous Sage of Friendship knew and revealed why exactly magic and medicine are forbidden to interact (ch63)...

because they can create unexpected magic such as the “demon” we encountered in this arc.

The Sages aside, I also wonder how much the old Witch families (like the Arkromes) who first created the pact so long ago and thus the gap between “witches” (who know The Secret) and normal folks (who don’t know The Secret) weigh into these decisions...?

After all, Agathe’s mom was invited to watch the festival with the Sages next to the monarchs and the king’s family, so I figure the first families or first houses might be pretty important (aside from her being head librarian) and have more knowledge they hide, which they pass on to their apprentice only, to keep the legacy going. 

So initially, while reading this, frankly I thought Eoleo’s words only had to do with the Royal Family being related to ancient witches who practiced medicine, therefore not being allowed to learn about magic, since we know by now that laws state that magic and medicine can’t be used together. 

Like every of these rigid laws, I figured witches were adamant about keeping the two separated to avoid another possible era of war. You know, like we’ve been told constantly since the beginning of the series. Yet there is way too much emphasis on the fact that “people” and “witches” are considered two separate entities. 

Then, rereading ch57, I noticed that...

Estheath reveals something rather curious, which is that the ones who enforce the laws about magic aren’t necessarily the ones who thought them up. 

So could it be that those rigid laws with no place for exception are not up to the current witches’ community at all?

Could it be that it’s something passed down since the era of war (as spells? or curses?) and witches have to respect them with no exception (which is why the Knights Moralis are so harsh), otherwise the magic community will risk something terrible? More than war befalling the world again, something like... the disappearance of magic altogether? 

Could there be somewhere a relation to the fairytale from ch47?

We’ve been told when encountering the King and the 5 monarchs that Witches aren’t subjects of the King, but have to help a lot with everything except for man-made disasters. So if magic were to disappear from the world, because witches don’t respect these “laws”, wouldn’t it simply lead to a great era of misery for the Zoza peninsula? 

I honestly can’t be sure but the dreadful fact that the Brim Hats very much want to meet with the King makes me think that there will be a bigger disaster than medicine meets magic if they’re allowed to success...

I also can’t help but remember that Qifrey exiled himself from his peers and officially we... don’t really know why? 

It would be easy to think that this has to do with his quest of revenge against the Brim Hats but... maybe there is more to it than that? 

TL;DR maybe the Brim Hats don’t just want to erase the clear distinction that exists in-universe between “people” and “witches” (through Coco’s circumstances, meeting the King, etc). Maybe their goal lies way beyond that and erasing that distinction is just one step towards it.