Episode 10 of Shadows House anime finally gave us some long-awaited answers. Were they what we thought they would be? In a way, but also much darker.
We last left off with Emilico saving Kate, and their time almost running out. It seemed like Edward’s plan was about to work out – he had intended to sabotage them since the beginning. But, the two of them manage to surprise all the judges by making a spectacular comeback and completing the test. Kate finally shows off her soot-controlling powers and impresses everyone. They are then taken inside the mansion, to celebrate with the other shadows and their faces.
Meanwhile, in the garden, Rum and Shirley are still walking towards the plaza. But Shirley starts falling behind and Rum soon realizes what this means. As Shirley’s body starts to dissolve into soot, Rum regrets not bonding with her sooner. We finally learn what happens to shadows who fail their test, and it’s not pretty. Edward and the other judges merely watch Rum say goodbye.
Inside the mansion, dolls are greeted and served what looks like coffee. Kate doesn’t like it and decides not to drink it, but Emilico insists it shouldn’t go to waste so she does. We get to meet some new faces here, including Maryrose, Rosemary’s master. Soon the dolls are invited outside, where they’ll be greeted by Lord Grandfather himself. Kate realizes something weird is happening, once all dolls start cheering. Emilico no longer sounds like herself, which Kate attributes to the coffee she drank earlier. Seems like John realized something as well, as we see him giving a handkerchief to Kate.
This episode finally explains what shadows actually are. They are morphs, small parasitic fairies who are skilled at imitating and mimicking. Shadows’ mansion serves as their breeding ground. Lord Grandfather devised it as a process that helps morphs gain personalities in three stages. During the first stage, they are shown living dolls so that they can learn how to mimic them. In the second stage, they meet their living doll counterpart and develop a personality through interactions with them. This is also where Shirley failed – her personality didn’t develop in time. The third stage is the most sinister one. It is where the unification of a doll and a shadow takes place, soot powers overtake the face.
Seeing as Edward mentions humankind it would probably be safe to assume that dolls are in some way or form human. During the first episode of the season, we see them drinking mysterious liquid and swearing loyalty to shadows. We now know that a coffee-like drink is given to dolls to reset their memories, but it doesn’t affect the shadows. By erasing their personalities, any threat of the dolls rebelling is gone.
Shadows House is merely a place that keeps this system going under Lord Grandfather. Edward wonders why he surrounds himself with incompetent shadows, but in reality, he probably doesn’t want anyone threatening his position. Shadows like Kate, who know the truth to some extent and hide their powers, bother Edward because he feels like they are a danger to the system. However, what Edward doesn’t realize is that he himself is quite similar to Kate. He also questions the way Shadows House is run, albeit for different reasons. It will be interesting to see how and if his personality further develops as the story progresses.
The episode ends with Kate feeling saddened by the loss of Emilico’s personality. Emilico is now a robotic doll, who no longer remembers the friendships she’s formed nor who she was. Upon being asked by Rum, who will now become a veiled doll, Emilico responds by saying that those who fail to pass the test deserve such destiny. However, since Kate seems to know more about the mansion than she lets on, she may try to save her somehow.
There are only 3 episode left in this season and the answers are finally starting to come in. It will be interesting to see if Kate makes allies, seeing as she’s the less friendly one among the two.
You can watch Shadows House every Saturday on Funimation.
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