Welcome to the penultimate episode of this first arc of Spice and Wolf Season 2! Or at least I think it’s the penultimate episode. I actually expected it to resolve this week but Spice and Wolf surprised me with another Lawrence focused episode. Was it any good? Well let’s dive in and find out!
This week I want to start with a character close to my heart and who has quickly become a favorite: Mark. I love Mark, I love everything about him. The way he acts as a connection to Lawrence’s life before Holo. Contrasting Lawrence with his old self and showing us how far Lawrence has come. How he pushes and supports Lawrence towards the answers he wants without trying to force him into anything. And especially how he draws boundaries while still maintaining the friendship. Mark is neither a doormat for Lawrence to walk over nor a “power of friendship” plot device. Instead he is what Lawrence is turning into. More than just a merchant, he is a family man. A member of the community and a romantic at heart. And I love everything that he has brought to this arc and what he has contributed to Lawrence as a character.
As for Lawrence himself this was a big week for him. I mean, every week has been a big week for him for maybe the past month, but you know what I mean. Where last week Lawrence started to question his feelings for Holo, this week we see him arrive at an answer: He does value her. And if you listen to Mark, more than money itself. While none of this is unexpected Spice and Wolf did a good job leading into it. I liked all the small scenes building up to this realization. His conversation with Batos and the metaphor of losing his cargo or his money, with Holo as the cargo. Asking Diana for stories about couples between mortals and Gods, etc. It was a good way to present it and managed to make something that was otherwise obvious into a satisfying realization.
One last thing I want to talk about here before we move on, I liked everyone’s reactions to it. The way Diana, Batos and Mark all figured it out way before Lawrence ever did. Seeing through all his metaphors about cargo and money, inferring that it was truly about Holo. It helps sell just how obvious their relationship was to everyone but themselves. And I really appreciate how Spice and Wolf did it without screaming it at us, “You love her!”, so to speak. I’ve always found those sorts of realizations, where another character has to tell the lead how the lead feels, to be poorly done. It’s nowhere near as satisfying as nudging your lead along and letting them figure it out themselves. Still enough of that, onto the rest of the episode!
That’s right its time to talk about economics and Fermi’s rebuttal. At least, I assume he has one. Because throughout this episode it felt like everything was… to easy for Lawrence. All the pieces were falling into place. Batos was willing to help, Diana sold him pyrite on credit, Mark even found a bunch of sellers who can’t sell publicly or risk a loss of reputation. Everything was coming up Lawrence, he had his stock! So why is Fermi confident to taunt Lawrence by giving him the loan in gold coins despite the exchange rate? Is it a bluff, a brag? We can surmise that Fermi was the one visiting Diana to ask about pyrite. Perhaps to make a purchase himself. The only thing I can think of is he has an organized group of buyers and is doing his own market manipulation, a ballsy play.
And of course there’s the question of Holo as well! What’s she doing with him? Has she already sided with Fermi since she’s accompanying him to the market? Or is she feeding him false information and setting Lawrence up to defeat him and win her back, if he has the guts to do so? Personally I think it’s the latter. I don’t believe that Holo, once she’s recovered a bit, would so easily discard Lawrence. Not without a final conversation at least. And after that letter she left him detailing Fermi’s finances I can’t help but think she’s doing this as a challenge. “Here’s all the information you need, now win me back”. Something to make it more fair since Lawrence lacks the same resources and funds as Fermi. Though I will admit that I am cheating a bit since I know we still have half a season left, haha!
All in all I think this was a good, straightforward episode of Spice and Wolf. Nothing in it was all that surprising nor did we get any major revelations. However I’m invested in Lawrence’s character, his journey, and watching him finally find an answer for Holo was really satisfying. That said I cannot lie about this, I’m really happy that night is finally over. We’ve spent the last 3 episodes in the same festival night as Lawrence runs around town like a madman. So while I enjoyed it, I’m glad we can finally move the story forward and start getting out of this god damn town. Even if the meal was good, sit to long and it will start to turn a bit stale for my taste.
