Luna Nova and the White Dragon (ルーナノヴァと白い龍, Rūna Nova to Shiroi Ryū?) is the 5th episode of the Little Witch Academia anime series.
On Netflix, the episode is titled "Pact of the Dragon".[4]
Overview
After getting into a fight in class, Akko and Amanda have detention together: They must clean the New Moon Tower, where they find dragons.
Summary
The episode began in Lukić's potion class, where the students were assigned to brew any potions they pleased. Akko tried a combination of "sugars, spices, and everything nice" (the last being a jar of her favorite pickled plums!), only for the mixture to explode into a pink dough in the middle of the stirring process. Lotte proposed it to be the result of extra additions she put into the mixture. Just then, Akko noticed the progress of Amanda's team, which was not going in the same way with others that they questioned their integrity as witches-in-training: Jasminka was occupied by her snacks as usual whereas Amanda slacked off, leaving Constanze doing the job all by herself which was the least of their worries since she got a mixer and what appeared to be a microwave to heat their mixture. Annoyed, Amanda pointed out an irony by reminding the Japanese witch-in-training of her reputation as the academy's dunce, sparking an argument between the two, culminating in them knocking the latter team's boiling cauldron by mistake, thus causing it to explode. Fortunately, Diana used her magic to undo the mess they unwittingly caused before she and Lukić disciplined the two.
While in the middle of their detention — cleaning up the surroundings of New Moon Tower — later on, Amanda and Akko caught a glimpse of some winged creatures above them. Upon a closer look, there were more of the creatures, and to both girls' shock, they were seizing Luna Nova's Sorcerer's Stone before flying away. Suspiciously enough, when Amanda and Akko attempted to report it to the headmistress, Holbrooke and the professors were faintly surprised by such turn of events for some reasons; not only Lukić slipped up about the wrath of some dragons, but also the headmistress shot down Akko's offer to help regarding this matter and Finnelan reminded them about their ongoing detention which now changed to assisting other students in managing the academy's chores.
Akko and Sucy were disgruntled by the academy's current situation; as noted by Lotte, with Sorcerer's Stone gone, faery custodians of Luna Nova couldn't do their job to the fullest, forcing the students to handle their assignments. Luna Nova's plumbing was affected by such shortcomings, as Hannah couldn't flush a toilet at one point. It also occurred to Amanda that the professors were terrified of the dragons responsible for all of this for some reason, though she also dismissed Sucy's claim of how dragons in general replenished their magic power by draining witches of their blood. The Manbavaran's claim left Akko suspecting the dragon may very well coveted the stone for its selfish ends, thus rallied her friends to do something about it, with Lotte deducing the creature's lair being somewhere in Rastavan Ruins. Just then, Diana showed up to inform Akko and co regarding additional assignments from Finnelan and discouraging them from confronting the dragon, much to Akko and Amanda's dismay. Upon being asked by Akko about whether Luna Nova's current situation affected her as well, the Cavendish brushed it off, pointed out that the Japanese witch-in-training's recklessness won't do any good regardless of her intentions, and walked away.
Discovering that they had a common resentment toward Luna Nova's top student, Amanda put aside her differences with Akko and agreed to join her in the quest for Rastavan Ruins. This dismayed Lotte as Sucy pointed out that there's no point in changing their minds, more so with Constanze and Jasminka taking care of both laundry and water in a short amount of time with both ingenuity and sheer strength, respectively. Now that their tasks are completed, Akko, Amanda, and the rest of the group (Lotte, Sucy, Constanze, and Jasminka) set out for the ruins.
Returning to the headmistress's office, Diana saw Finnelan struggling to decipher an ancient scroll Holbrooke left for her to solve. Inspecting the scroll's writing, the Cavendish revealed her familiarity with its language, much to the strict professor's surprise.
Closing in on Rastavan Ruins with the aid of Constanze's mechanized broom (the broom was powered by gas instead of magic), Amanda notified the group that their brooms' respective batteries had replenished themselves, allowing the girls to fly on their own at last. Just then, the same winged creatures who seized away Luna Nova's Sorcerer's Stone ambushed the group and, knowing they couldn't shake the creatures off, Amanda implored everyone to split up in order to fight back. A dogfight ensued as Constanze opened fire on the dragons with her Stanbot's shotgun configuration while Amanda conjured a large flower popping out of one of the chasing beasts' snouts, causing it to crash along with two of its packmates and allowing the German mechanic to finish them off. Sucy spread out explosive powder, which covered the air behind her before magically igniting it, creating a trail of explosions that incinerated unfortunate winged beasts caught in its path. Checking on the downed beasts, Akko was shocked upon discovering their true mechanical nature, though she barely had time to process it, let alone inform Amanda, because Lotte and Sucy got captured. Constanze tried to subdue winged beasts who snatched the two by firing an RPG missile with her stanbot to no avail before being seized alongside Jasminka.
Fortunately for Akko and Amanda, the winged creature horde that captured their friends entered the ruins' entrance, which happened to be very close. Hilariously, Akko unwittingly found another in the form of a chute she fell into while rushing towards Amanda, much to the latter's pleasant surprise. After ensuring that Akko was unharmed by the fall, Amanda, alongside the Japanese witch-in-training, navigated the ruins' interior. Entering an enormous underground chamber, the two rushed into hiding upon noticing the presence of a shadowed, draconic figure within. Following the figure, Akko and Amanda saw them approaching a cage, Lotte, Sucy, Constanze, and Jasminka locked inside. When it appeared the draconic figure threatened her trapped friends, Akko recklessly swung toward them, much to Amanda's chagrin. Sure enough, the draconic figure single-handedly caught Akko midair before their terrified eyes. Just when it appeared to be Akko's end, the draconic figure yelled at her to be quiet, incredulous upon Akko's pleas not to be eaten before tossing her back to Amanda, much to the annoyance of the Japanese witch-in-training.
The draconic figure, Fafnir the Dragon, noted the girls to be the ones who triggered his security system before casually drinking some juice, leaving them processing the fact that the chamber they were in being an oversized kitchen instead of torture room (his food processing equipment had rather ominous design that they could be mistaken as instrument of torture on the first glance, especially in darkened areas). Not to mention Fafnir's own appearance — an anthropomorphic dragon who can talk and wears a bathrobe and slippers fit for his size — contrasted with what his reputation painted him as. Fafnir then inquired about Akko and co. whether Holbrooke sent them to settle the debt, just as the headmistress herself showed up by the doorstep of Fafnir's home alongside Lukić and Samantha Badcock and some old artifacts in tow. After he rejected said artifacts, Akko demanded Fafnir's reason for seizing Luna Nova's Sorcerer's Stone. Fafnir explained that he did what must be done because the academy owed him a lot of money in return for his contribution to its construction as per the contract between them long ago. He then criticized Luna Nova's staff for focusing on magic above all else, stating that they failed to adapt to changing times, unlike him, who established a successful company and with it, convenient means to amass his personal hoard. When Fafnir decided to sell the confiscated Sorcerer's Stone as compensation for their troubles, Akko stood up for the sake of Luna Nova, as she had a dream to achieve while it was still standing, and called him out for his greed.
Suddenly, Diana and Finnelan entered the room while bringing in Fafnir's contract with Luna Nova, written in Dragonese (an ancient language professors of Luna Nova and their predecessors were not familiar with). Having mastered the language when she was 12, Diana deciphered the ancient contract and, in the process, confirmed that paying the interest was never part of it in the first place — Fafnir had abused the deal by having the academy pay more than it owed since he believed none of the professors could decipher it from the start. Indeed, before Fafnir could argue further, Diana confirmed the sum of the payment through the contract between both parties had far exceeded the principal sum of the initial debt before assuring that Luna Nova would provide him with the proper documentation about the refunding of the overpayment, nevertheless. As such, Fafnir had no choice but to return the academy's Sorcerer's Stone at once now that his treachery had been exposed.
With Luna Nova reclaimed its Sorcerer's Stone thanks to Diana, Akko overheard Fafnir lamenting the impending end of magic along with witches and dragons in the light of the age of science. The Japanese witch-in-training reassured him that magic had the power to move hearts even in the present. Although skeptical regarding such reassurance that he dismissed Akko as a naive one, the dragon nonetheless pointed out that no man could live off dreams alone. Continuing his work, Fafnir realized that there were still some humans who retained the same optimism in Akko and took her words into his heart.
The next morning at Luna Nova, Akko and co. were dismayed that they had to continue the laundry in the light of leaving the academy without permission. Whereas Sucy stated that their detention would be taken care of as soon as they complete the task, Amanda was unable to help but was disgruntled by the fact that Diana got all the credit in the end. Akko, on the other hand, acknowledged Diana as her worthy rival. The episode ended with Amanda teasing the Japanese witch-in-training's resolve by reminding her of her own reputation as the academy dunce, leading to another argument between the two...
Order of appearances
| Characters | Tools | Spells | Creatures |
|---|---|---|---|
Trivia
- Three of the ingredients Akko poorly chose for the potion (sugars, spices, and everything nice) are a reference to Powerpuff Girls, to how the girls are made of, or a popular nursery rhyme dating from the early 19th century.
- This is the first episode in the series that doesn't start in a cold open, as the title theme plays immediately.
- In Netflix's worldwide release, the episode was renamed to Pact of the Dragon[5].
- This episode takes place in June, along with "Night Fall" and "The Fountain of Polaris", as stated in the chronicles book.[6][7]
Errors/Goofs
- It's rather odd that Fafnir seemingly managed to scam Luna Nova for centuries until Diana exposed his treachery, as the school's professors were supposedly not fooled so easily, more so considering some, if not all of them, were likely familiar with alternate methods to properly review the school's contract with the elderly dragon (e.g., Dragonese potion). A plausible explanation behind such a mess is that some of the past professors misinterpreted certain parts of the contract at one point between the day it was signed and the present (at very least some time after the end of the Golden Magic Age), and things went downhill from there with Fafnir exploiting the error as a way to scam the school since then. To add insult to injury, later professors underestimated the importance of understanding Dragonese and other languages until it became a major problem.
External Links
Reviews
- The Con Artists
- Rolling Review – Little Witch Academia (05) by CONARTISTSUSHMA February 10, 2017
Gallery
| Luna Nova and the White Dragon has an associated gallery here. |
References
- ↑ Little Witch Academia's Netflix Release Date Announced - IGN
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 2.38 2.39 2.40 2.41 2.42 2.43 2.44 2.45 2.46 2.47 2.48 2.49 2.50 2.51 2.52 2.53 2.54 2.55 2.56 2.57 2.58 2.59 2.60 2.61 2.62 2.63 2.64 2.65 2.66 2.67 2.68 2.69 2.70 Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 2, page 29
- ↑
- ↑ https://www.netflix.com/title/80156387
- ↑ https://www.netflix.com/title/80156387
- ↑ Little Witch Academia Chronicles, Chapter 4, page 116
- ↑
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