Prologue[]
Once upon a time, there was a princess raised by loving parents. One day, the princess snuck past the guard at the gate and slipped out of the castle for the very first time. No matter how far she went, however, outside the castle there was only an endless forest as black as pitch. Before she knew it, the princess ended up unable to either escape the forest or return to the castle. In that kingdom, the inside of the castle was the entire world.
Story[]
Fakir is once again speaking to the tree through the stone, Ahiru who is watching him finds she is suddenly late for school and rushes there however upon arriving she finds an upset Rue on one of the high ledges of the building. Ahiru climbs the stairs to speak to her however Rue becomes Kraehe and leaves. Upon walking through the school, Ahiru speaks with Mr. Cat who manages to make her realize she can’t run away anymore. Deciding to act, Ahiru begins searching through the town for the remaining heart shards.
Autor meanwhile meets with the Book Men asking to know about how Drosselmeyer’s story is controlling the town however he is turned away. The Book Men leave Autor alone but decide to act against Fakir. Autor who is wandering the town comes across Rue whilst Fakir by the stone finds a group of cloaked people surround him.
Rue has Autor follow her throughout the town whilst Fakir has the Book Men confront him. They admit they are the descendants of those who cut off Drosselmeyer’s hands to prevent him from writing any more stories and so it is their duty to bestow the fate on any else who wish to do so. It was also their doing for removing the conclusions to all the stories to prevent them from becoming real.
Ahiru, who comes across one of the gates of the town finds a heart shard is nearby and soon realizes a heart shard resides in each of the five gateways into the town. However, she cannot reach them since all that remains out the town is a wall. Autor tells Rue of the town being controlled and admits his love to her however she sends him away since his words cause her to doubt her father’s words - him saying nobody else could love her besides the prince.
Upon becoming Tutu in a failed attempt to see beyond the town, Ahiru sees Fakir currently about to have his hands cut off at Drosselmeyer’s grave. Tutu rushes forward onto the scene and interrupts however she then finds herself sealed in a cog and brought into an alternate dimension due to Drosselmeyer. The Book Men decide to let Fakir keep his power as long as he doesn’t manipulate the story and take their leave.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Subtitle: Das Grosse Tor von Kiew
- There's a lot of music from Pictures at an Exhibition in this Akt. Specifically, the subtitular music, "The Great Gate of Kiev", which is the final movement. The actual gate is not really a gate at all, but a monument over the attempted assassination of Tsar Alexander II.
- The other movement from Pictures is "The little hut on chicken legs", which refers to the Russian fairy tale witch Baba Yaga. Who is the witch here - Rue, Drosselmeyer or the Book Men? Baba Yaga had no power over those with a pure heart. Rue let Autor go when she realized that he truly loved her; Drosselmeyer could not hold the pure-hearted Tutu (but that's in the next episode - and the rest of the season, for that matter).
- There's a marionette theme running through this Akt. Rue begins to recognize Uzura, and begins to ask her something - because Edel had given answers in the past? (Incidentally, I think she's sitting under the same tree that she and Mytho had their picnic under.) Uzura could follow Tutu when she was captured by Drosselmeyer. Autor comments that they're all marionettes.
- Mytho has a crow shadow.
- A family enters - without the gate opening - and the kids are wondering if their mother always was a rhino.
Music[]
- Mussorgsky, Modest (orch. Ravel): Pictures at an Exhibition: The Old Castle
- Liszt, Franz: Les Préludes
- Debussy, Claude: Préludes, Book 1: Girl With the Flaxen Hair
- Ippolitov-Ivanov, Michail: Caucasian Sketches, Op.10: Mvt 2 "In the Village"
- Wagner, Richard: Siegfried Idyll
- Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich: The Nutcracker: Act II, No.13 - "Waltz of the Flowers"
- Mussorgsky, Modest (orch. Ravel): Pictures at an Exhibition: The Little Hut with Chicken Legs
- same: same: The Great Gate of Kiev