Episode five of Maria The Virgin Witch, titled “Courage, Prudence,” is currently streaming on FUNimation for paid members. Free members can watch this same episode seven days from now on February 15th.
There is the saying that “no good deed goes unpunished,” which applies to the entire anime series let alone the previous episodes. Maria is doing the best she can to prevent war from breaking out, but war profiteers like the mercenaries and other witches have not taken kindly to her actions. You can say that Maria is “hurting their business.”
Maria The Virgin Witch so far has taught the important lesson that religious intolerance is one of the factors that will spark war and war profiteers thrive off conflict. We should take a look at several historical battles like the string of conflicts across Africa and the Middle East within the last decade and a half.
It holds true for religion early in the episode as the Catholic priests formulate a plan to make Maria foil the plans of the English, which shows the duplicity of the Catholic Church. Maria is trying to prevent war and the Catholic Church will find a way to use her to its advantage.
Maria’s good intentions have unfortunate consequences, which reminds everybody that war is expensive. Her actions have caused the King of France to increase taxes.
This reminds me why I staunchly support the separation of church and state within government. I am all for freedom of religion, but I strongly feel that church should never combine with government state of affairs.
The scene reminds us that there is nothing wrong with religion in general because it is the leadership that makes it look bad.
People throughout history have cited doing “God’s work” or imposing “God’s will” when orchestrating the greatest atrocities across the world.
To be fair, however, many people were victims of atrocities due to their religious faith. This also goes back into history like the Khmer Rouge regime, the persecution of Christians in Japan, Africa, Vietnam War, and more.
The other witches are as guilty like the episode shows, with the other witches trying to get Maria to join their side.
Even if angels exist, hypothetically, the anime shows a disconnect between Earth and Heaven. We only learn about the afterlife through what he learn, but we have no idea if it’s fact or fiction. The only thing you can do is have “faith” in what religion you practice, but within moderation.
Ezekiel, Maria’s monitor from Heaven, has a very black and white view of Earth.
Artemis steps up and acts as the “mature adult” by informing Ezekiel that it is not the case on Earth and that the world is one big mass of “moral gray.” Ezekiel knows little of the darkness in the human heart, which is one of the reasons conflict breaks out and turn into a full-scale war.
Again, religious intolerance and religious corruption are two factors that spark conflict.
War profiteers like Galfa thrive on war because that is all they know. It is obvious that Galfa is a self-serving individual that works as a mercenary to accumulate fame and fortune to be recognized as a noble.
Seeing an attractive woman furthers that motivation.
It reminded me of Izaya Orihara’s newest scheme in the latest episode of Durarara!! x 2, which is to create a series of scenarios to cause “misery” as a means to open the human heart. This also mirrors the latest episode to Death Parade, where Nona revealed that the games played are meant to reveal the darkness or the amount in the players’ hearts.
People will do the darkest things if the “right conditions” are met, which differs from one person to another.
An example is the latest episode of One Piece, where Doflamingo issued a bounty and put the highest one on Usopp. The liberated prisoners of Dressrosa were grateful to Usopp for freeing them, but quickly turned on him after Doflamingo put a 500-million berry reward for his head.
Maria doesn’t understand the concept either and doesn’t think what happens after the war ends. She has a narrow-minded black and white view of things, too, like Ezekiel. This warrants a visit from the mysterious dark entity that has monitored Maria’s recent actions.
Galfa and Maria represent a morally gray debate on “logical vs. illogical.”
The two of them have logical purposes, but think illogically at the same time.
Galfa logically thinks about his future as a mercenary and hopes to rise up the ranks, but illogically sleeps with another man’s woman let alone a noble woman.
Maria doesn’t think that far ahead even though she justifies it as a means to “stop fighting.”
Galfa’s actions trigger another type of corruption, which further blurs the line between logical and illogical. Eugenie, the woman that Galfa bedded, is the woman of one of a knight and that sparks the “logical vs. illogical” debate.
Eugenie’s man is a noble and Galfa is a commoner, which is a taboo relationship in the past.
When you factor in the social hierarchy, it is logical for that man to uphold his honor because of Eugenie’s actions. It automatically turns illogical when you take out the social hierarchy and also think about the current state of things like the fact that France and England are at war with each other.
The logical and illogical thing to do, which the Catholic Church suggested, is to hold a duel between Galfa and that man. Galfa agrees to the match, which is logical as a means to get out of punishment, but is illogical because the condescending nobles can always rig the match.
They already that did by injuring Galfa’s arm.
Joseph presents a logical argument for Galfa to run away, but it becomes illogical because Galfa admits that he neither a place to run to nor a “home.” He is a wandering mercenary, which leaves him little to no friends.
It reminds me of the fourth episode of Aldnoah.Zero 2, when Slaine was accepted as a Count, but faced prejudice by the other Vers nobles because of his Earth heritage. Slaine’s predicament somewhat mirrors Galfa’s, but the former has noble reasons and the latter has self-serving reasons.
Joseph continues reasoning with Galfa, but only Galfa can come up with his own reason of action whether you can call it logical or illogical.
The duel between Galfa and Jean also goes back to religious hypocrisy as they both place their hands on the Holy Bible before they clash. In layman speak, the Catholic Church had the idea of the duel and proclaim that the two men are fighting each other to the death in the “name of God.”
This was an interesting episode to watch because it really makes one think about conflict and what sparks conflict. It ultimately causes the characters to question what is logical and illogical, but Galfa and Maria’s actions have proven that those definitions are subjective. Maria has the good intentions of trying to stop fights, but ultimately learns that not all fights should be prevented.
Of course fighting is bad, but what if you are fighting for something that you truly believe in? That is rhetorically asking.
Galfa is a self-serving person, but is capable of having a spine.
It is doubtful that Galfa may want to pursue knighthood after learning that Jean committed suicide because he couldn’t bare the negative looks from his peers. You can say that Jean’s act of suicide is illogical, but that is subjective. When you consider the different factors at play, then the cold reality is that suicide is probably the “best way” to go.
The same debate also becomes a social commentary on the issue of nobility. Galfa wanted to achieve the status of a noble let alone achieve knighthood, but ultimately learns the cold reality that nobles have more problems.
This whole episode is dedicated to the gray mass of morality and logic.
