「深淵の生まれる時」 (Shin-en no Umareru Toki)
“As the Abyss Is Born”

At last it appears time to learn what Unnamed Memory was so eager to rush towards in its first half. I cannot say I’m entirely thrilled how off the rails speed-wise this adventure is becoming, but there was always a wheel remaining firmly (if only just) on the track and enough time left to correct course and bring it all home. Mind you that last bit is still very much up in the air, but hey, we’re at least getting somewhere now.

After beating around the bush for a few weeks we finally get a name to the face with the proper reveal of Lanak. And not just Lanak either – Tinasha’s entire backstory. Probably to the surprise of few it’s your usual tragedy: Lanak and Tinasha (or Aeti) were betrothed and destined to rule an ancient kingdom, political elements got involved once determined that Tinasha would rule as Queen with Lanak as crown prince, and in the end the attempt at altering that outcome wound up destroying said kingdom. To be fair the biggest shocker here is Lanak’s attempt at seizing power is what effectively caused Tinasha’s age to freeze in time, as her sheer power and capabilities came together with some malice to yield one hell of a being. Tinasha is certainly a witch, but her powers arguably go beyond what the likes of Lucrezia are capable of.

Of course backstory isn’t everything gleaned here as we also got the whiplash follow up for Oscar’s curse suppression (courtesy of another curse) and Tinasha running off with Lanak once he appeared. Oh and that kiss out of nowhere, cannot forget that. Much like Tinasha’s past I don’t imagine this bit will throw many for a loop though; as Lucrezia shows (and dragon handoff indicates) Tinasha wants to keep Oscar out of danger and so went with Lanak to avoid a fight the prince probably cannot yet win. I don’t suspect Tinasha intends on actually siding with Lanak given their past (and the manner of Tinasha emptying nearby towns hints towards it too), but it’s important to keep up appearances so it’ll be interesting seeing how this plays out once Oscar does inevitably catch up with her. In short expect quite a bit of bickering and some good old-fashioned tension and misunderstandings, especially should Tinasha’s hope for the future prove fatalistic.

Now we just have to hope the pacing for such events decides to slow down a bit and properly smell the roses.

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