We live in a complicated world where truth is often uncomfortable and so everyone is always trying to hide it. But such efforts are often only temporary, and sooner or later the truth is going to come to light. I am so glad that we’ve finally come to the point in ACCA where the truth is revealed at last. I always knew there was something great waiting for us to discover, and I think it’s worth the occasionally slow story telling.
I found the story of the princess tragic and troubling: the girl who had many dreams for the future died so young, and apparently, the Dowa government is against having their rulers thinking for themselves. The Dowa kingdom has already shown several signs of corruption, but this one, I think, is where it runs deepest. The Privy council felt so threatened by a princess who wanted to learn more about her country that they decided it would be better if she essentially lived in exile. That’s backwards. They were afraid she was revolutionary—But, as royalty, she could have brought about change peacefully. Their fault, then, is not so much that they are oppressive, but that they are afraid of change.
Luckily, the princess’s exile was probably good for her, if not for the country. She probably lived a much happier life as an everyday person than a bird in a gilded cage. Yes, she may have died, but she lived a life closer to what she wanted than the palace would have allowed. Still, did she ever think that maybe, just maybe there would be no way for her children to stay out of the mess of politics forever? They might not be in the family registry, but the way she was removed from the family registry was not legal, so even if Nino said there’s no way for Jean to be an heir, he may be wrong.
Jean now finally knows the truth about himself, and the truth about Nino. Their friendship is an odd one, but I suppose you can’t really say that Nino’s spying on Jean was ever harmful to Jean himself. But as Jean hadn’t known the truth, there was still a gap in their friendship. But still, they genuinely care about each other, and the truth always gets revealed anyways, closing the gap between them.
I am surprised that the Privy Council didn’t realize this, but secrets aren’t usually kept forever, especially if more than one person knows about them. Even if it takes a century, someone finds out somehow. And on an individual basis, where there isn’t power and politics protecting us, it can become even easier for the people in our lives to find out what we’re hiding from them.
But there is someone else that we could never even begin to hide anything from in the first place. It is such a strange and marvelous thing that God knows everything, even what we hold back from everyone else, but he loves us still. He knows when our efforts to hide things are going to be in vain, but he still has patience with us. He is always ready to renew his relationship with us, even if we’ve been holding back for a very long time.
This may be my favourite episode so far, and I also think it’s one of the better-done flashback episodes I’ve seen to date. Everything was explained quite nicely, with just a bit of mystery remaining. It was also grounded, rather than relying solely on vague nostalgia to carry it through. I’m still aghast that the Privy council would rather have ignorant, selfish royalty than someone who wants to make things better. I’m also a little furious with the King for allowing it, though there are two possibilities: either the King is a puppet, willing to forfeit his relationship with his daughter for the sake of stability (and if you ask me, stability that must be maintained like this is only a farce anyways), or he had hope that someday the situation would change, and Schnee would be able to rejoin their family. Now, what will Jean’s next move be now that he knows all this? Only the next episode can answer that.
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Oh my the feels in this ep~! But very interesting analysis on how the situation was handled reflects on the privy council and political landscape at large, and how Nino’s constant caring presence resembles our relationship with God. Personally, regarding the king, I’m hoping that his choice was made for his daughter’s best interests rather than political succession or anything. But, even more importantly, let’s talk bread. Of the apple cake variety, to be more exact. Did it also bother you that it looked nothing like cake but rather like pie? Is the cake a lie?
The cake is always a lie, always! But I wouldn’t be surprised if Japan called apple pie apple cake for some reason.
I’m glad you liked my analysis! I do believe the King had her best interests at heart, at least for the most part. He seems like a pretty nice guy. Thanks for your comment!