Okay, here we go. Movie Two, Eternal. START THE COUNTDOWN!
Okay, so we're recapping that last few seconds of the previous film. Good - glad to see that they're making a smooth transition without any jarring en media res stuff like the Evangleion movies did.
Sayaka's plight hits so close to home for me that it's painful to see her like this. It's easy for me to understand her despair, how she feels that everything has become so hopeless because in the end nothing matters anymore - you will always lose, no matter what.
Oh no. Kyoko saw it with her own eyes, and yet she doesn't realize what's happened. This is going to be the worst...
Homura shows up and we get to see what her power looks like in action from her perspective as he pulls Kyoko along with her... And begins to explain what has happened.
So they make it out of there. Now what?
Poor poor Madoka. To see a friend that you love so much have such a thing happen to them...
Okay, this following bit was already covered above, so you can either disregard this, or hit the spoiler tag and reread it.
"If that's how you think, then you really are our enemy." Yes! And Madoka scores a bullseye.
"So if you ever feel like dying for the sake of the universe, please call me anytime."
You first, fucker.
And then Madoka is left feeling utterly powerless. And I can't blame her. What recourse is there when such a people are actively preying on your loved ones?
Now to Kyoko. She's keeping Sayaka's body preserved and is looking to see if there's a way to get her back.
Kyoko, you are far more selfless than you think. You just needed someone to come along and remind you of what it means to be human.
"The existence of Magical Girls defies logic as it is." Bullshit. You made them, therefore there is some type of logic behind it.
It does concede that Magical Girls seem to be able to do incredible things they can't even predict. The precedent for recovering someone from a fallen state has no precedent, but it doesn't rule it out entirely. However, I'm pretty sure it's hoping that Kyoko will fall as well.
"Who would listen to your advice anyhow?" There's a lot of zingers being fired off by these girls now.
Sayaka meets up with Madoka - she has a theory of how they might save Sayaka - that maybe they could remind her that she is human and has people that love her no matter what has happened to her.
"Wouldn't that be something? It'd be like one of those stories where love and courage triumph over all."
Kyoko hasn't been using any grief seeds - her soul gem is starting to show darkness around the edges.
"Actually, I probably became a magical girl to begin with because I used to love stories like that. I've totally forgotten that. It was Sayaka that reminded me again."
Kyoko, all your warnings of danger won't do anything to dissuade Madoka now. You just gave her hope, her most powerful weapon right after love.
The heck? Their desks plug into the floor? And have some kind of digital connection? Portable Smart Desks!?
Homura knows something is up.
Kyoko reveals the existence of Walpurgisnacht to Madoka, but not much else about it.
So their soul gems can also discern magic patterns as well. Interesting.
"Love Me Do" says the graffiti outside of Sayaka's Labyrinth.
Kyoko detects Madoka's wavering resolve on whether or not she should become a magical girl, then reminds her that she has people that care about her. But she does admit that the time may come when Madoka may have no other choice but to stand and fight, but until then she needs to think about it.
Interesting. Sayaka doesn't wait for them to come to her. She goes straight to them.
Oh man. Kyoko is really putting herself out on this. Not good.
And now Kyoko has had enough and is letting Sayaka have it once again.
Oh Kyoko... Going to join Sayaka like that...
Kyubey. Only now admitting that it was impossible to do. You claim not to deceive people, but all you do is spread lies and misery.
It reveals its scheme - that in letting Kyoko die and take Sayaka with her, that all there would be left to fight Walpurgisnacht would be Homura. And that Madoka will have no choice but to make a contract with Kyubey.
Flashback? Time Travel? Different Perspective?
No. Another timeline. This time the teacher is on about how she was criticised for how she seasoned her eggs.
It's the original timeline where Homura first contracted to become a Puella Magi.
Homura had a heart condition that kept her hospitalised. I would not be surprised if she kept the scars from her surgery after all this time. She is so painfully shy and uncertain. Madoka is enchanted with her right away.
And Madoka comes to her rescue, saving her from the girls that are so excited to have a new girl in the class.
Homura sounds very much like Madoka did in the last movie - quiet, slow, deliberate, uncertain, - while Madoka is bubbly and joyful.
Oh dear... Something of each loop is getting passed on to Madoka. Is this the result of Homura's wish?
Homura's name means flame. Madoka thinks that she should become just a cool as her name is.
Oh man, what a reversal. Homura is thinking exactly as Madoka had before does in the future. Perhaps the one defining difference between the two of them is that from what I know so far, Homura doesn't have much of a family.
Oh no. She's fallen afoul of a witch.
Here we see how they operate. It's as I suspected - someone doesn't have to be suicidal, just depressed enough that they can be pushed over the edge.
MAMI AND MADOKA TO THE RESCUE! ....and the little shit stirrer.
Fact: in the original timeline, Madoka made her contract with Kyubey one week before she met Homura. And apparently Walpurgisnacht was already known to be coming by Mami... Interesting...
Fast-forward. Walpurgisnacht has arrived. Mami has just died. Madoka is about to go and sacrifice herself to stop the massive witch. She has such a courageous heart.
Fact: Homura does not make her wish until after Madoka has died in the First Timeline.
"I want to re-do my meeting with Kaname-san. But this time, instead of her protecting me, I want to become strong enough to protect her!"
No friggin' wonder. Her primary goal is protection, thus the shield. She's also a lot more resilient than most other Puella Magi. Also her wish ensures that she will always be at least as strong as Madoka herself. And if a bit of Madoka really is being passed on from one timeline to the next... Jeeezzze...
Note: Due to the changing timelines, Madoka's wish is always something different, but will always stem from her kindness, courage, and selflessness.
Homura's shield has an hourglass stylized as a ying-yang with a clockwork core. Interesting.
As Homura goes back in time, there is something visible for only one frame - an angular bird-shape. Significant?
Next round. Homura is much happier and outgoing. And she goes straight for Madoka!
"Kaname-san! I've become a magical girl, too!"
Okay, so training. They seem to twig pretty quickly the fact that Homura has no real weapons, however her time manipulation is a weapon in and of itself that allows her to, in an instant, deal grievous damage without putting herself into much danger.
Homura starts out pretty early on learning to do things like make explosives and bombs.
Fast-forward.
They've defeated Walpurgisnacht, but Madoka is about to turn into a witch.
Rewind.
Homura now knows the full truth and tries to warn everyone. But no one listens.
Homura needs weapons other than bombs. And so she goes and steals from the Yakuza. We also learn her shield is also a pocket of holding.
It takes Sayaka's fall for them to learn the truth.
And then Mami snaps and kills Kyoko. She nearly kills Homura, but Madoka kills her first.
Poor Madoka. But at least Homura is there for her.
Fast-forward.
They've beaten Walpurgisnacht, but now they're both about to turn into witches together. But Madoka had one with her, and with just enough to purify Homura's Soul Gem, but not hers. (It's Sayaka's grief seed.)
It's here that Madoka makes Homura promise to not let her be fooled into making a contract with Kyubey. And then she finally breaks the poor girl by asking to kill her before she can turn into a witch.
Rewind.
She knows no one will believe her. She is done messing around. She does not want to make any more mistakes. She fixes her eyes so she no longer needs glasses. She no longer bothers with braiding her hair. She sets out on her mission to stop Madoka from every contracting with Kyubey. She loads up on weapons from the military and vows to no longer rely on anyone else.
Her strategy at this point is to kill every last witch so Madoka doesn't need to contract, but she doesn't understand what lengths Kyubey will go to to get her contract.
Fast-forward.
As Homura fights Walpurgisnacht, Madoka somehow finds herself inside the Labyrinth, and witnesses the terrible battle that Homura wages by herself. And Kyubey is there. She's too late to stop her from contracting.
After one-shotting Walpurgisnacht, Madoka turns into the greatest witch ever. Kyubey cares little for mankind's plight as the quota needed from Earth is filled.
Rewind.
To the present timeline.
Kyubey reveals it's theory on why Madoka is so powerful.
A magical girl's potential is based on the weight of karmic destiny she bears. (Paging Dr. Nova!) If she had been the queen or savior of a country then it would have been easier to understand. But Madoka was only living an ordinary life. But with Homura constantly resetting the timeline over and over again, she was binding more and more strings of fate to Madoka.
Thus we have our feedback loop. Every resent, Madoka gains more power. And as Madoka gains more power, so too does Homura because of her wish.
Sayaka's body was discovered. Madoka attends her friend's funeral. It is a cold comfort that Sayaka at least has this in the end. And yet, even then she becomes no more than a blurb in the news. Mami and Kyoko will have no such things. No one will know who they were except for her and Homura.
Her mother is there. It seems she understands now what was causing her daughter so much pain, but she still doesn't know the full truth. And she knows there's more to it than that.
Freakin' Kyubey. Comparing humans to livestock. And then he goes on to say they treat humankind with much more respect than humans treat livestock. Bullshit. If this were the case, you could have found a way to harvest emotional energy without hurting anyone.
Again with the semantics. You still omit the truth. You omit the fact that these things have such heavy costs. And you prey on the vulnerable because not only are they the most potent sources, but they have no idea to even ask about such things.
Respectful my ass. If your kind were any more condescending they'd never get their noses out of each other's asses.
Besides, human advancement would have happened without your 'assistance'. Humans are very good at causing their own misery, but we can at least reap our own rewards without your interference, and without you damning little girls like that.
Emotions are a mental disease to them!? WTF!? Vulcans have got nothing on these fuckheads.
Junko and Saotome-sensei, sharing drinks at a bar, lamenting Sayaka's death. And now that Mami's absence is being noticed, things are in an uproar.
Talking about what is really going on with their children and what can be done about it. Not much, it seems.
Apparently humans perceive Walpurgisnacht as a great disaster such as an earthquake or a hurricane.
Homura is trying to convince Madoka that she needs no help in fighting Walpurgisnacht, but it doesn't seem to be working. Madoka has already lost so much that to lose Homura as well...
Homura can no longer hold it back. She tells Madoka about the time traveling and watching her die, time after time, again and again.
"The more times I redo all this, the further in time we drift from one another. Our feelings drift further apart, and my words don't even reach you anymore. The truth is, I think I've been lost for a very long time, now. 'I will save you.' That is the feeling that I started all of this with. And now, it is the only thing I have left to guide me.
"It's okay if you don't understand. It's okay if my words don't reach you. But please... Please... just let me protect you."
Walpurgisnacht Arrives.
Madoka has her confrontation with her mother. It is precisely because Madoka loves everyone so much that she needs to do this.
Homura is having her doubts. Now that she knows what her resets are doing to Madoka, she worries about hurting her even more....
And then she is there. Madoka has found her resolve... and her answer.
"I want to erase all witches before they are even born. I will erase every single witch in every universe, past and future with my own hands...I don't care what you call it. All those magical girls who held onto their hopes and fought against witches I don't want to see them cry. I want them to stay smiling until the end. If any rule or law stands in my way I will destroy it. I will rewrite it. That is my prayer. That is my wish. Now grant it, Incubator!"
In a place outside time...
Mami: Aren't you afraid you'll lose yourself
Kyoko: So you found your reason to fight.
Madokami happens.
And the Law of Cycles comes into play.
"Before the hope we wished for summons an equivalent amount of misfortune, we have no choice but to vanish from this world."
... And yet... despite that she is no more, memories still remain.
Homura no longer has a shield. Instead, a bow as Madoka had, only in Homura's style.
"Don't forget. Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember that, you are not alone."
End of Movie Two
Okay, so we're recapping that last few seconds of the previous film. Good - glad to see that they're making a smooth transition without any jarring en media res stuff like the Evangleion movies did.
Sayaka's plight hits so close to home for me that it's painful to see her like this. It's easy for me to understand her despair, how she feels that everything has become so hopeless because in the end nothing matters anymore - you will always lose, no matter what.
Oh no. Kyoko saw it with her own eyes, and yet she doesn't realize what's happened. This is going to be the worst...
Homura shows up and we get to see what her power looks like in action from her perspective as he pulls Kyoko along with her... And begins to explain what has happened.
So they make it out of there. Now what?
Poor poor Madoka. To see a friend that you love so much have such a thing happen to them...
Okay, this following bit was already covered above, so you can either disregard this, or hit the spoiler tag and reread it.
"If that's how you think, then you really are our enemy." Yes! And Madoka scores a bullseye.
![[+]](/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Spoiler"So if you ever feel like dying for the sake of the universe, please call me anytime."
You first, fucker.
And then Madoka is left feeling utterly powerless. And I can't blame her. What recourse is there when such a people are actively preying on your loved ones?
Now to Kyoko. She's keeping Sayaka's body preserved and is looking to see if there's a way to get her back.
Kyoko, you are far more selfless than you think. You just needed someone to come along and remind you of what it means to be human.
"The existence of Magical Girls defies logic as it is." Bullshit. You made them, therefore there is some type of logic behind it.
It does concede that Magical Girls seem to be able to do incredible things they can't even predict. The precedent for recovering someone from a fallen state has no precedent, but it doesn't rule it out entirely. However, I'm pretty sure it's hoping that Kyoko will fall as well.
"Who would listen to your advice anyhow?" There's a lot of zingers being fired off by these girls now.
Sayaka meets up with Madoka - she has a theory of how they might save Sayaka - that maybe they could remind her that she is human and has people that love her no matter what has happened to her.
"Wouldn't that be something? It'd be like one of those stories where love and courage triumph over all."
Kyoko hasn't been using any grief seeds - her soul gem is starting to show darkness around the edges.
"Actually, I probably became a magical girl to begin with because I used to love stories like that. I've totally forgotten that. It was Sayaka that reminded me again."
Kyoko, all your warnings of danger won't do anything to dissuade Madoka now. You just gave her hope, her most powerful weapon right after love.
The heck? Their desks plug into the floor? And have some kind of digital connection? Portable Smart Desks!?
Homura knows something is up.
Kyoko reveals the existence of Walpurgisnacht to Madoka, but not much else about it.
So their soul gems can also discern magic patterns as well. Interesting.
"Love Me Do" says the graffiti outside of Sayaka's Labyrinth.
Kyoko detects Madoka's wavering resolve on whether or not she should become a magical girl, then reminds her that she has people that care about her. But she does admit that the time may come when Madoka may have no other choice but to stand and fight, but until then she needs to think about it.
Interesting. Sayaka doesn't wait for them to come to her. She goes straight to them.
Oh man. Kyoko is really putting herself out on this. Not good.
And now Kyoko has had enough and is letting Sayaka have it once again.
Oh Kyoko... Going to join Sayaka like that...
Kyubey. Only now admitting that it was impossible to do. You claim not to deceive people, but all you do is spread lies and misery.
It reveals its scheme - that in letting Kyoko die and take Sayaka with her, that all there would be left to fight Walpurgisnacht would be Homura. And that Madoka will have no choice but to make a contract with Kyubey.
Flashback? Time Travel? Different Perspective?
No. Another timeline. This time the teacher is on about how she was criticised for how she seasoned her eggs.
It's the original timeline where Homura first contracted to become a Puella Magi.
Homura had a heart condition that kept her hospitalised. I would not be surprised if she kept the scars from her surgery after all this time. She is so painfully shy and uncertain. Madoka is enchanted with her right away.
And Madoka comes to her rescue, saving her from the girls that are so excited to have a new girl in the class.
Homura sounds very much like Madoka did in the last movie - quiet, slow, deliberate, uncertain, - while Madoka is bubbly and joyful.
Oh dear... Something of each loop is getting passed on to Madoka. Is this the result of Homura's wish?
Homura's name means flame. Madoka thinks that she should become just a cool as her name is.
Oh man, what a reversal. Homura is thinking exactly as Madoka had before does in the future. Perhaps the one defining difference between the two of them is that from what I know so far, Homura doesn't have much of a family.
Oh no. She's fallen afoul of a witch.
Here we see how they operate. It's as I suspected - someone doesn't have to be suicidal, just depressed enough that they can be pushed over the edge.
MAMI AND MADOKA TO THE RESCUE! ....and the little shit stirrer.
Fact: in the original timeline, Madoka made her contract with Kyubey one week before she met Homura. And apparently Walpurgisnacht was already known to be coming by Mami... Interesting...
Fast-forward. Walpurgisnacht has arrived. Mami has just died. Madoka is about to go and sacrifice herself to stop the massive witch. She has such a courageous heart.
Fact: Homura does not make her wish until after Madoka has died in the First Timeline.
"I want to re-do my meeting with Kaname-san. But this time, instead of her protecting me, I want to become strong enough to protect her!"
No friggin' wonder. Her primary goal is protection, thus the shield. She's also a lot more resilient than most other Puella Magi. Also her wish ensures that she will always be at least as strong as Madoka herself. And if a bit of Madoka really is being passed on from one timeline to the next... Jeeezzze...
Note: Due to the changing timelines, Madoka's wish is always something different, but will always stem from her kindness, courage, and selflessness.
Homura's shield has an hourglass stylized as a ying-yang with a clockwork core. Interesting.
As Homura goes back in time, there is something visible for only one frame - an angular bird-shape. Significant?
Next round. Homura is much happier and outgoing. And she goes straight for Madoka!
"Kaname-san! I've become a magical girl, too!"
Okay, so training. They seem to twig pretty quickly the fact that Homura has no real weapons, however her time manipulation is a weapon in and of itself that allows her to, in an instant, deal grievous damage without putting herself into much danger.
Homura starts out pretty early on learning to do things like make explosives and bombs.
Fast-forward.
They've defeated Walpurgisnacht, but Madoka is about to turn into a witch.
Rewind.
Homura now knows the full truth and tries to warn everyone. But no one listens.
Homura needs weapons other than bombs. And so she goes and steals from the Yakuza. We also learn her shield is also a pocket of holding.
It takes Sayaka's fall for them to learn the truth.
And then Mami snaps and kills Kyoko. She nearly kills Homura, but Madoka kills her first.
Poor Madoka. But at least Homura is there for her.
Fast-forward.
They've beaten Walpurgisnacht, but now they're both about to turn into witches together. But Madoka had one with her, and with just enough to purify Homura's Soul Gem, but not hers. (It's Sayaka's grief seed.)
It's here that Madoka makes Homura promise to not let her be fooled into making a contract with Kyubey. And then she finally breaks the poor girl by asking to kill her before she can turn into a witch.
Rewind.
She knows no one will believe her. She is done messing around. She does not want to make any more mistakes. She fixes her eyes so she no longer needs glasses. She no longer bothers with braiding her hair. She sets out on her mission to stop Madoka from every contracting with Kyubey. She loads up on weapons from the military and vows to no longer rely on anyone else.
Her strategy at this point is to kill every last witch so Madoka doesn't need to contract, but she doesn't understand what lengths Kyubey will go to to get her contract.
Fast-forward.
As Homura fights Walpurgisnacht, Madoka somehow finds herself inside the Labyrinth, and witnesses the terrible battle that Homura wages by herself. And Kyubey is there. She's too late to stop her from contracting.
After one-shotting Walpurgisnacht, Madoka turns into the greatest witch ever. Kyubey cares little for mankind's plight as the quota needed from Earth is filled.
Rewind.
To the present timeline.
Kyubey reveals it's theory on why Madoka is so powerful.
A magical girl's potential is based on the weight of karmic destiny she bears. (Paging Dr. Nova!) If she had been the queen or savior of a country then it would have been easier to understand. But Madoka was only living an ordinary life. But with Homura constantly resetting the timeline over and over again, she was binding more and more strings of fate to Madoka.
Thus we have our feedback loop. Every resent, Madoka gains more power. And as Madoka gains more power, so too does Homura because of her wish.
Sayaka's body was discovered. Madoka attends her friend's funeral. It is a cold comfort that Sayaka at least has this in the end. And yet, even then she becomes no more than a blurb in the news. Mami and Kyoko will have no such things. No one will know who they were except for her and Homura.
Her mother is there. It seems she understands now what was causing her daughter so much pain, but she still doesn't know the full truth. And she knows there's more to it than that.
Freakin' Kyubey. Comparing humans to livestock. And then he goes on to say they treat humankind with much more respect than humans treat livestock. Bullshit. If this were the case, you could have found a way to harvest emotional energy without hurting anyone.
Again with the semantics. You still omit the truth. You omit the fact that these things have such heavy costs. And you prey on the vulnerable because not only are they the most potent sources, but they have no idea to even ask about such things.
Respectful my ass. If your kind were any more condescending they'd never get their noses out of each other's asses.
Besides, human advancement would have happened without your 'assistance'. Humans are very good at causing their own misery, but we can at least reap our own rewards without your interference, and without you damning little girls like that.
Emotions are a mental disease to them!? WTF!? Vulcans have got nothing on these fuckheads.
Junko and Saotome-sensei, sharing drinks at a bar, lamenting Sayaka's death. And now that Mami's absence is being noticed, things are in an uproar.
Talking about what is really going on with their children and what can be done about it. Not much, it seems.
Apparently humans perceive Walpurgisnacht as a great disaster such as an earthquake or a hurricane.
Homura is trying to convince Madoka that she needs no help in fighting Walpurgisnacht, but it doesn't seem to be working. Madoka has already lost so much that to lose Homura as well...
Homura can no longer hold it back. She tells Madoka about the time traveling and watching her die, time after time, again and again.
"The more times I redo all this, the further in time we drift from one another. Our feelings drift further apart, and my words don't even reach you anymore. The truth is, I think I've been lost for a very long time, now. 'I will save you.' That is the feeling that I started all of this with. And now, it is the only thing I have left to guide me.
"It's okay if you don't understand. It's okay if my words don't reach you. But please... Please... just let me protect you."
Walpurgisnacht Arrives.
Madoka has her confrontation with her mother. It is precisely because Madoka loves everyone so much that she needs to do this.
Homura is having her doubts. Now that she knows what her resets are doing to Madoka, she worries about hurting her even more....
And then she is there. Madoka has found her resolve... and her answer.
"I want to erase all witches before they are even born. I will erase every single witch in every universe, past and future with my own hands...I don't care what you call it. All those magical girls who held onto their hopes and fought against witches I don't want to see them cry. I want them to stay smiling until the end. If any rule or law stands in my way I will destroy it. I will rewrite it. That is my prayer. That is my wish. Now grant it, Incubator!"
In a place outside time...
Mami: Aren't you afraid you'll lose yourself
Kyoko: So you found your reason to fight.
Madokami happens.
And the Law of Cycles comes into play.
"Before the hope we wished for summons an equivalent amount of misfortune, we have no choice but to vanish from this world."
... And yet... despite that she is no more, memories still remain.
Homura no longer has a shield. Instead, a bow as Madoka had, only in Homura's style.
"Don't forget. Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember that, you are not alone."
End of Movie Two