English Dub Review: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight “Rain and Memory in Brittany”

It’s the new game show, “Marry Your Cousin for Soldiers!”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

After a haunting dream of being surrounded by flames while Jeanne cries for help, Montmorency awakens with his comrades, who have claimed the castle. But with Jeanne incapacitated (told ya!), they’ll need more men to maintain their recent wins, so Montmorency heads to his childhood home of Brittany to negotiate for more troops from his grandfather, which he is reluctant to do because of some bad blood between them.

Specifically, back when he was forced to live there, grandpa tried to marry him to his cousin Catherine for her dowry, so he ran away. Turns out she was totally fine with that, since she (like almost every friggin girl in this show) has the hots for him, but he ran away. Though now that he’s back, she can tell he has feelings for someone else, that being Jeanne. So, she decides to just pretend they slept together so that the grandfather will cough up the troops. So glad to hear that Montmorency draws the line at incest…but is seemingly warming up to pedophilia.

Also, Nicholas Flamel reappears, apparently having told the granddad that Montmorency is tied to a deadly prophecy. Guess we’ll see what that’s about in a few more episodes.

Also, La Hire is back working for Charlotte and Richemont is…somewhere?

OUR TAKE

I guess this qualifies as a breather episode? It follows a pretty big development last week with Jeanne’s almost death, it’s certainly slower and more somber in tone, and seems to be leading into a great return to the positivity next time, so…sure, why not. We learn quite a bit about our protagonist’s past here, which is probably the main goal of this episode, but the way it goes about it, but having it tied to this odd conflict that turns out to be NOT a conflict, is very sloppy (which is saying something for this show). Montmorency can’t get the troops he needs without marrying his cousin, which he doesn’t want but she kinda does, so the resolution is…they don’t get married but pretend they fucked to please their grandfather, who apparently is not going to hold this to any verification other than his word.

It’s not like the old man can take the troops back now, and he seemed pretty dead set on those two marrying for the money, but apparently is fine with them not. We know he’s not an idiot, but what the heck was he really after here? The meeting with Flamel (sorry Fantastic Beasts 2 didn’t work out, buddy) about the prophecy and keeping him human seems pretty disconnected from everything else that was happening this week. It’s just kind of another random bit of compost to throw in the pile. It’s foreshadowing leading to something, but I couldn’t tell you I was looking forward to it any more than I was before.

As for Catherine, I actually was surprised she was not Jeanne in fancier dress like the OP led me to believe. With all the very alarming closeness between her and Montmorency, I figured this was foreshadowing a scene where he sinks their potential shipping once and for all. Turns out, it’s his cousin crying because he won’t cross one line, but he is DEFINITELY going for that twelve year old. And like her grandfather, her own motivations are a complete jumble that I neither can nor care to try untangling. Just…ugh. I gotta be frank, my already waning interest and investment in this series is draining pretty fast, so if we could hurry up back to the mindless action and get Jeanne to the stake soon, I’d be pretty okay with that, otherwise I might just immolate myself in order to FEEL something again.