Heart shards make their homes in the holes in peoples’ hearts and convolute their stories…

This episode, Duck is sorting out what kind of story she’s landed in – and we learn a fair amount about Mytho this episode, too.  One thing I hadn’t noticed before is that Pique and Lillie recognize the idea of the Prince’s heart being shattered to seal away the Raven – thus, that “forbidden power” must have been part of the original story of The Prince and the Raven.  Because of course Drosselmeyer would give the Prince a method of defeating the Raven and make it “forbidden” for some reason.

Perhaps because of his newfound feeling of bitter disappointment, Mytho runs off to hang out with Rue without telling Fakir (making Fakir meaner than usual to poor Duck).  While Duck’s caught up in the little storm between Rue and Fakir, she runs into Edel.

Edel: Truth is a shy little thing: If you approach, it will hide. Truth is a lonesome little thing: If you run away, it will give chase.

This line is both quite true (in a sense; it always reminds of The Last Unicorn, for reasons that would require a whole ‘nother post) and also relevant to the developing story.

Rue: Mytho, I want to hear you say that you love me.

Duck ends up (awkwardly) hanging out with Mytho, and we start to get a sense of his life.

Duck: But you’re hurt Mytho!

Mytho: Fakir and Rue don’t say things like that.

He also mentions that he just hangs out with Rue and Fakir because they’re the only ones who tell him what to do.  It’s clear that, whatever their motives may be, those two only really care about Mytho as an object, while Duck seems to be the only one who cares about Mytho as a person.

Then we get to the episodic plot, which is much better executed than last time (not that that’s saying much, but it is pretty well done).  There’s a fair amount of tension in figuring out just how Ebine’s story has “gone awry”, and once you do find out, it’s actually quite touching and even relatable.  There are a couple cheesy moments (“Mealtime has now ended!”), but there’s enough tonal fluidity that it’s not terribly distracting.  And evidently metaphors don’t work on Mytho.

Then these guys catch up and interrogate Mytho (Duck hid herself after she changed back from Tutu), leading Rue to inadvertently reveal to Duck the fate of Princess Tutu.

Rue: This is ridiculous – that’s just a story. Though blessed with beauty, cleverness, and strength, she’s still a princess fated never to be with her Prince. When she confesses her love, she turns into a speck of light and vanishes.

Turns out Duck’s tale is more Little Mermaid than Ugly Duckling.

Until next time…