Episode seven of Maria The Virgin Witch, titled “War Feeds on War,” is currently streaming on FUNimation for paid subscribers. Free subscribers can watch this same episode six days from now on March 1st.
The episode begins by showing viewers that war is neither pretty nor glorious and it would be foolish to think otherwise; however, it is the opposite if one is a warmonger or a war profiteer. War ultimately messes most people up, which I learned by attending a lecture by known peace activist Captain Paul K. Chappell.
I can see the fear in Joseph’s eyes when confronted with the opportunity to kill an unarmed enemy, but he can see the look of horror in the other soldier’s eyes. I remember Chappell’s article titled “The Hunger Games vs. The Reality of War,” which he wrote in his criticism towards Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games being required reading in many schools.
Chappell explains that all people in combat are vulnerable to “psychological collapse” and it becomes the case for extended tours of duty. He pointed out that the Spartans have retreated from combat several times because they felt terror in their hearts.
Watching Joseph spare the English soldier did not surprise me because he is not the killing kind, but it was saddening to see another person kill the man right in front of his eyes.
This shows that war is a very f—ked up situation.
The English witches are no different from the mercenaries or the Christian Churches. They are interested in war for the money and do not care about the human loss. You have a group of powerful beings that could end the war, but choose not to because they find lots of profit to be made in constant fighting.
The Catholic and Protestant Churches, respectively representing France and England, use the war as a means to increase their influence and power. The witches and the churches are secretly using each other.
Maria’s interference in the battle was not surprising, but I was surprised that one of the English soldiers decided to attack when he was granted an out. This does prove Viv’s point that humans can be disgusting beings, but she contradicts herself because witches are humans as well.
I mean Viv and the other witches are no different from the rest of humanity.
But I do understand that it is very difficult to simply leave and go home after losing so many people let alone battle buddies. That is something that Maria neither predicted nor thought about. It is noble to prevent war, but I feel Maria is going at it the wrong way.
Directly intervening in conflicts can only get you so far.
Galfa surprised me when he slit Yvain’s throat and killing him without any hesitation.
But I was surprised that Galfa lost his arm the next moment let alone to cannon fire. I did not expect Galfa to get critically injured that quickly in combat.
The other witches plead their case for Maria to stop, but it is a weak argument.
They say that people will starve to death without war and conflict, but that only breeds the predatory nature that leads to such destruction. Countries can legally go to war as long as there is government approval.
It is ultimately the leaders who are responsible for waging war and bringing peace. The way that the leaders rule give birth to the circumstances that maintain peace or lead to war. This reminds me of the anime series Yona of the Dawn, where Yona learns that her father was a weak ruler that inadvertently created circumstances for war.
The witches operate on the flawed logic that war is good for business, which is entirely the opposite.
Wars are expensive and they can kill a country’s economy.
I do agree that wars will never go away because they can be sparked for a number of reasons and that includes the most trivial, but they believe that never ending predatory cycle of war justifies their existence.
It reminds me of the Canadian science-fiction series Continuum, where season three revealed that the corporate government never took over and Kiera’s actions led to a war between corporate factions. The witches would obviously profit from that war.
The events of the episode hold true to the title that war breeds more war.
We should look at the 20th century as a prime example as the conflicts ended up converging or leading into World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. The effects of the Cold War played a huge role in the conflict across the world especially in Africa and the Middle East.
This episode teaches all that war has many consequences.
