Shadows House

Episode 12

As it turns out, Shadows House was playing with our senses in a couple of ways. First and foremost was the perspective we got of Emilico sitting on the piano stool – it was deliberately framed so that it looked as if the furniture was all a size or two too big for her body. While this certainly played with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland aspects that the series has occasionally indulged in (that, or folklore about child-munching giants), the chief aim of the framing was to throw us off the scent of Edward being the sole person involved in her capture. We knew he was involved somehow, because Louise saw him, but by making everything appear too big for Emilico in his room, we were given the idea that maybe there was another person involved.

As you may have guessed (or some of you guessed last week), that's not the case. Edward, with his weird vendetta against Kate and Emilico, remains the only person who thought it was a great idea to snatch everyone's favorite sunshine/flowerhead and interrogate her about her mistress. They may not have been the two he was aiming to eliminate during the Debut, but he's certainly pinpointed them as the biggest obstacle in Lord Grandfather's way, or possibly simply in his own way as he seeks to climb to Lord Grandfather's lofty heights of power. And he assumes that he can make Emilico talk, probably because he knows she drank the coffee.

Emilico, however, is unaware that Edward is the one who has her tied up, because not only has he covered her eyes with a blindfold, he also revealed to the audience what his soot power is: he can change his voice. It sounds to me like what he actually does is borrow other people's voices, because he's able to fool Kate when he realizes that she's come for her “doll” by approximating Emilico's voice. It feels very deliberate that this power was kept from us until this point, and it certainly indicates that Edward may have more of a shot at Lord Grandfather's side (or position) than his earlier behavior led me to believe. He's ambitious because he knows he has a chance, and that actually makes him much more dangerous a foe because he's not overestimating himself – he knows exactly what he can do and how important it could be. If left unchecked, he could easily accomplish his ambitions.

Or he could if it wasn't for those meddling Shadows and their stupid dolls. He may have foreseen Kate's incursion into Lord Grandfather's wing, but that could be because he's been paying more attention to her as a potential problem child. I can't imagine that he ever guessed that Louise would help out at all, and he may be underestimating Patrick's feelings for Emilico as well. As far as Patrick is concerned, Emilico saved him by providing hope and comfort when he had none, and even though he technically paid her back towards the end of the debut, his words to Ricky and the way they're delivered makes me think that he's still very attached to her, maybe even fond. That's an interesting idea in and of itself, because from what we know of the teaching (brainwashing) the dolls have undergone, it would make much more sense for Shaun to at least act like he has feelings for Emilico based on John's wholehearted attraction to Kate. But Patrick seems to be the one with those emotions, and while I doubt that's going anywhere in the story, it's certainly something to think about, not to mention something that could blow up in Edward's face.

As we head into the finale, there are a couple of things that could do that: the aforementioned Louise and Patrick and that small soot sprite who has been following Kate around, unnoticed by everyone – a sprite with a distinctive purple bow. Unless I miss my guess, that's Shirley (or what's left of her), and since Rum is now a Veiled Doll, we have to assume that she's in the vicinity as well. I don't think we'll get a really conclusive ending to this series, but I am still looking forward to seeing Edward get taken down a peg or twelve.

And I admit it – I really hope they let John punch him.

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Shadows House is currently streaming on Funimation.