Magna did the impossible last week. With Dante down, only two members of the Dark Triad are
left standing between the Magic Knights and the Qliphoth ritual and this week the fight pivots
to Vanica, the one holding the Heart Kingdom’s queen. “The Sacred Valkyrie” is Noelle’s episode
from the moment she arrives, and it gives her the biggest stage of the season so far then pulls
the floor out from under her in the final minutes.
A Queen Turned Against Her Own Kingdom
Vanica isn’t fighting fair, and she never planned to. Using her Blood Magic together with devil
powered Curse-Warding Magic, she has taken control of Lolopechka, the Heart Kingdom queen
she abducted, and turned her against her own allies. Charlotte Roselei and Rill Boismortier are forced into the worst kind of fight: every attack they throw risks seriously hurting the queen they’re trying to save. It’s a cruel setup, and it’s clear that Vanica doesn’t just want to win, she wants the people who
love Lolopechka to be the ones who destroy her.
Noelle Arrives in Saint Stage
The cavalry arrives in the form of Noelle and Gadjah. Gadjah’s loyalty becomes his weakness
almost immediately: facing the controlled Lolopechka, he hesitates as he can’t bring himself to
seriously hurt his queen and that hesitation lets her stab him, leaving him badly wounded.
Noelle has no such opening to exploit. With the Water Spirit Undine’s help, she has achieved Saint
Stage the spirit host’s answer to devil power, a form that can “dissolves devil-enhanced magic”. In her
Spirit Dive: Saint Valkyrie Armor, Noelle doesn’t just hold her own against a Dark Triad member
she overwhelms her.
There’s a catch, and it’s a brutal one: Saint Stage runs on a timer. Everything Noelle does in this episode happens against that clock.
Thirty Seconds Against a Dark Triad Member
Noelle spends those seconds perfectly. The episode is a magnificent display of speed and power from Noelle and the animation does her justice. She’s able to counter many of Vanica’s attacks, while the Dark Triad member is excited for the battle. However, Vanica suffers defeat. For one moment, it looks like the Magic Knights have taken down a second Dark Triad member in as many episodes first Magna over Dante through sheer preparation, now Noelle over Vanica through a form built to destroy devils. Then the timer expires.
Megicula Manifests
The armor dissolves and Megicula, the devil behind Vanica, manifests from within her. Megicula is one of the highest ranking Devils, having replaced Astaroth, after it’s mysterious disappearance.
The fight Noelle thought she had won was only the first layer. Megicula takes control of Lolopechka with decaying magic, twisting the queen into something devil-like, and the episode ends on a
cliffhanger: Gadjah down, Lolopechka lost to the devil’s control, Saint Stage gone and Noelle
alone in front of a devil who has been hiding behind Vanica the entire time. Noelle didn’t fail. She beat Vanica. The problem is that Vanica was never the real enemy in the first place.
Final Thoughts
“The Sacred Valkyrie” does two things at once. It pays off years of Noelle’s growth the royal
who once couldn’t control her own magic now stands as the Magic Knights’ anti-devil weapon
and it raises the stakes past anything the Dark Triad alone presented. Shonen anime and manga series often short change the female character of the main trio. Noelle hasn’t been a consistently useful in the series but she really shines in this episode that centers her.
Magna beat Dante with six months of hidden preparation. Noelle beat Vanica with a borrowed spirit’s ultimate form. Neither victory finished the job, because the devils were always the real problem.
What do you think: Does Noelle earning Saint Stage through Undine a borrowed spirit’s power
count differently from Magna’s win last week, which he earned through six months of work
rather than a power-up? Let me know in the comments.
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