Episode 4 of “Fena: Pirate Princess” is doused from head to toe in historical storytelling. Continuing along their journey to solve the mystery of the stone, Fena and the Goblin Knights make headway on its origins. In the midst of witty dialogue and charming character development, a lot of connections are revealed about who Fena might truly be.
And one of those connections involves a prominent historical figure.
Compared to the past three episodes, this week is when Fena’s backstory takes a drastic leap.
Upon their arrival to Dresden, the crew finds the shop that carves stones similar to the one they have. Unfortunately, the man in the shop tells them they don’t carve the particular shape of the one they have. We’re suddenly introduced to Arya, who takes them, and the stone, to her grandfather. From here on is when they really narrow down on where the stone came from.
Arya’s grandfather goes through his record books after pointing out this particular stone has “D3756” etched into it. This was a way to keep a record of its production date and who commissioned it. He finds out this stone wasn’t actually made in Dresden, it was made in France. And the commission was by none other than Joan of Arc herself. Arya’s grandfather mentions that they have famous people in their books all the time, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus.
But what’s surprising is the date of the commission—1436. For anyone who doesn’t understand why that’s a huge twist, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in the town square of Rouen five years before that in 1431.
The client of this commission is revealed to be La Pucelle d’Orleans.
Don’t know who that is, right? Let’s keep going.
In the mid-18th century, French writer and philosopher, Voltaire, wrote a poem titled “La Pucelle d’Orleans”, which translates to “The Maid of Orleans”. So why is this a big deal? Well, for one, that poem was about Joan of Arc herself. And after leaving the island, Fena begins talking to Yukimaru and tells him that she remembers hearing the word “La Pucelle” before.
She isn’t sure where she heard it or who spoke it. Fena just knows the word is familiar to her. Now, rewind to the opening scene of episode 4 when we hear voices in her dream call her “Maiden of purest white.” Still don’t think this can keep going? Well, you’re wrong.
During the trial before her execution in 1431, Joan of Arc actually refers to herself as “Jehanne la Pucelle” which translates to “Joan the Maid”.
At the very end of the episode, we see Abel infatuated with a painting to which he mumbles, “La Pucelle.” The woman in the painting bears a striking resemblance to Fena. Remember, in episode 3, Abel said to himself, “Fena… Do you have any idea who you are?”
So just who is the woman in the painting? Whoever she is, Abel has a strong obsession with her and what Fena has to do with her. It’s worth noting that the woman in the painting is also wearing the same exact heart necklace that Abel and Fena both have as well.
I’ll quickly mention here that the artwork during this scene is downright gorgeous.
Simply put, we don’t know enough yet to jump to guaranteed conclusions. But the dots are finally connecting. The meaning of the stone, where Fena is from, and who she actually is—it’s all coming together and the roots run deep. The historical connections are there, now let’s see how they’re executed.
The one bump in the road is that while the French historical connection is prominent in episode 4 of Fena: Pirate Princess, her last name Houtman is actually Dutch. So we’ll just have to wait and see.
The best part is that Fena: Pirate Princess is an original anime series giving us zero possibility of any spoilers.
Fena: Pirate Princess episode 5 will air on Sunday, September 5, on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim. If you thought episode 4 was mind-blowing then make sure to vote for it in our weekly poll.
All images via Crunchyroll.
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