Spot the Reference, Akt 24

[ingvild.livejournal.com]

Aaaaand we're back with the antepenultimate episode! Boy, this has gone by faster than I thought it would. For previous episodes, look at the tags.



Subtitle: Danse Macabre

Introduction:
Once upon a time, there was a man who died.
The story the man wrote was about a happy prince who loved everyone and was loved by everyone.
The people fought, each wanting him to love them and them alone, and an evil raven pecked at their loving hearts one after another. The more the prince loved them and tried to save them, the more the people's love just fed the raven.
In the end, the raven thought, "I'd like to try eating the prince's heart, the most delicious one of all."

Music:
Aotoa rhapsodizes about the reality of Fakir’s power, Uzura leaves the high tower, Fakir wonders if he wrote the story or was made to write it, Ahiru awakens in the Smithy, Uzura returns there as well, Fakir burns his story and eats breakfast with Ahiru, they talk about their task: Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai: Scheherezade: Mvt 2 “The Story of the Kalender Prince”
Rue brings food to Mytho: Beethoven, Ludwig von: Egmont Overture
Rue dances with Mytho and remembers their life together and her desire to always have him with her, having discovered that she’s just human she no longer believes that Mytho will love her, Rue flees and Ahiru follows: Borodin, Alexander (orch. unknown): String Quartet No.2 in D-Major Mvt 3 “Nocturne” (orchestral)
Rue is terrified at the thought of the Monster Raven being released, Rue begs Ahiru to stop returning Mytho’s heart as it’s been the Monster Raven’s desire from the beginning, Rue promises to oppose Ahiru: Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich: Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture
Ahiru turns into a duck, Edel speaks to Uzura, Aotoa is thrilled to discover his theories are correct but believes it impossible for Fakir to oppose Drosselmeyer’s story with his own power, Ahiru is able to speak to Edel through Uzura: Dvořák, Antonin: Symphony No.9 “From the New World”: Mvt 2 – Largo
Edel reveals the reason for powers of the pendant Ahiru has, it is up to Ahiru to decide whether or not to change the pendant into last shard of Mytho’s heart, Uzura’s sadness at the idea of Ahiru never being able to return to being human: Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich: Swan Lake: Act II, No.13 – Andante non troppo “Dance de cygnes”
Mytho takes flight and finds Rue, Tutu asks Rue to trust in Mytho’s desire to have his heart returned, Ahiru releases the heart shards locked in the town gates, the shards ask Tutu not to return the last shard to Mytho if the Raven’s curse can’t be overcome, the Monster Raven is unleasehed, Rue refuses to take Mytho to be sacrificed, Mytho flies to the Monster Raven and Tutu is powerless to stop him, Rue’s words return Mytho to humanity, the Monster Raven takes Rue in his place: Saint-Saëns, Camille: Dance Macabre

Heart Shards: Five of them, but who knows which they are. I'm betting on the one talking to Tutu being selflessness, myself.

This episode is so self-contained, there isn't much to say. However, I do propose that this is the best use of Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre ever. (For general Dance of Death, see here.)

I feel I should point out that in addition to meaning death-something, the French "macabre" can also mean something like "frightful". When we imported the word to Norwegian (and changed the spelling to "makaber", because that's how we roll), the meaning became more something like "scary" or "grotesque". So...take your pick. Ain't linguistics fun?

Rue completely breaks my heart in this episode, by the way. Incidentally, can anyone remember the last time she referred to Mytho as "Mytho", and not as "Prince"? I'm thinking sometime last season, which I'm sure means something, but who knows what...

Drosselmeyer's nowhere near the end of this episode, by the way. Rue sacrificing herself REALLY wasn't part of his plan.

Until next time, then.