Annotated 30-23
Looking this over with fresh eyes, I’m wondering if Phil and I weren’t unconsciously building toward a theme here: not so much “innocence lost” as how fragile innocence is. We’ve seen Penk pull back from enjoying his enemies’ suffering and seen Auraugu attack those who can’t fight back; and now we see Magda of all people getting mean.
Sometimes compassion makes you more dangerous, not less. Magda’s ability to see her opponents’ hearts means she recognizes what Penk fails to see: Rachel is all but unconquerable when her skill and muscle are what’s keeping Frigg alive, but do an end run around her to kill Frigg first and she’d be much easier pickings.
Magda’s actions, like Auraugu’s, are entirely justifiable in the context of the war. In a real war, you often don’t even have time to offer your opponents a merciful death. And yet I think that if Byron hadn’t pre-empted Magda’s attack in the last frame, it still would’ve carried a spiritual cost Magda might not yet be ready to bear.
I was honestly just glad to see Byron kicking some ass. There were times I felt like you “Worf’ed” him a little bit, and it was nice to see him fight really effectively here.
For reference: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect
(Warning! TVTropes – enter only if you’ve got time!)
¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! ¡Epa! ¡Epa! ¡Epa! Yeehaw!
This page really makes it seem that these are stone/rock golems, not lava golems…