Completed Umineko Episode 4: 8.5/10

Alliance of the Golden Witch was REALLY great and easily the best episode so far. It is not only the most emotionally touching episode yet but also the most thematically rich and the one with the deepest character introspection. First of all-

the characters that this episode focuses on the most this time around is Maria and Ange, and they're both fantastic and encapsulates many of the main themes of the series.

Ange is an incredibly sad and lonely character who is completely socially isolated and bullied each and every day. She uses magic to summon the stakes, who start to hang out with her every day (especially Mammon) and she uses them for emotional strength.

Ofc, here's where the theme of escapism comes in. Is magic, these magical creatures that she summons, that only she can see, really magic, or is it just delusions, fantasies for people who cannot cope with reality?

Through Ange, the series also explores the theme of truth in interesting ways by showing us the negative consequences it can have on people who are too obsessed with it.

Ange is obsessed with finding out the real truth of what happened to her family, and she wants to save them all, and get them back, but, she eventually realises that no matter what she does, she won't ever get her brother or her family back, she can't change the past.

So instead of being obsessed with this truth which can only harm her, she grows and moves on. Her relationship with Maria is also very strong, as atonement for her past actions against her is a huge part of her journey as well.

Maria is the other character the series uses to explore the theme of magic. Maria has no friends and is regularly emotionally and physically abused by her mother. She relies on her magical friends, especially Sakutarou, for emotional support, but how real is that?

I will admit, I was never a big fan of Maria in episode 1. I found her annoying and creepy, but in episode 2 I started to empathise with her a bit more, but episode 4 made me really love her.

However, Maria uses her magic to create happiness out of such hardship and teaches Ange this. What I really like about this too, is that Rosa, who I absolutely despise and trust me, while her actions aren't justifiable in the slightest, she isn't pure evil.

I can even kinda understand where she's coming from, she does truly love Maria, but the unfortunate circumstances around her have just shaped her into this damaged monster. It's a huge shame, but it's also why Maria being such a strong person makes it all the more emotional.

This is getting a bit long lol, but some further thoughts of mine on the theme of escapism that you can read in these images.

Beatrice is of course also in this episode. I adore Beato. She's thematically strong, acts as an interesting foil to certain characters, and just oozes charisma and presence. I don't understand her at all though.

But, there have always been hints about deeper complexity to her character, and in this episode, those hints were VERY STRONG, so I'm excited to see the answer arcs delving more into her.

And, while overshadowed by several other characters, let's not forget Battler who was very good as usual in this episode. We got a look into his mindset about his family dynamics, and some VERY big reveals were dropped in this episode, so I'm excited about that moving forward.

Bernkastel and Lamdadelta appeared again. We didn't get to see too much, but what we got out of them was great as usual. I really like the two, at first, I thought Lambda was pursuing Bern as some yandere stalker, but it seems like they're actually lovers, so good for them.

I do think that the story structure is a bit unnecessarily messy, and not every part of this episode is consistently engaging. One particular very long chapter with a huge battle between characters was very rough to get through and had many issues.

But overall, a really great episode. I could see my score rising to a light 9 if future episodes add to this one by recontextualising, but some issues weigh it down a bit for not, but I still absolutely adored it. Excited for the answer arcs.

Btw, for those wondering, my general theories, and rankings of songs and characters will be in my question arcs thread later today.