I'll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History

Episode 8

Despite the return of our now one-eyed villainess, this episode is about Liz more than anyone else. In her first meeting with Alicia in two years, we learn a ton about her as a character. Rather than being evil or a reincarnator like Alicia, Liz seems every bit the idealist she appears to be. However, if anything, these two years have taught her how to do at least the bare minimum of self-reflection, which in turn leads to some interesting revelations.

Liz now consciously realizes that things just work out for her. All she has to do is righteously believe in something and it will come to pass. This is what has allowed her idealistic mindset to flourish ever since she was a child. If she believed she could befriend someone, it would happen. If she believed she could save someone, she could.

This explains (at least in part) Liz's reaction when she comes to rescue the kidnapped Alicia. There was no doubt in her mind that she could save Alicia. Thus, when coming upon Alicia seemingly about to kill one of her kidnappers, Liz panicked and froze Alicia instead of the kidnapper. To her, the violence before her was Alicia's fault. If Alicia had done nothing, just waited and tied up, then Liz would have rescued her without anyone getting hurt. Of course, by restraining Alicia, Liz allowed the kidnapper a chance to kill her, and one that would have succeeded if not for Duke taking the knife for Alicia.

The whole experience forced Liz to re-evaluate herself and how she did things. Now, she doesn't just decide on what is right or wrong on instinct; she listens to both sides first. While this is an improvement—and an important example of how she is changing and growing—it is only the first step.

There are two large problems with Liz as a person. The first is that, like the original Alicia, she doesn't need to try to get what she wants. Since everything just works out (though due to “fate” instead of money and pedigree), she largely coasts through life. Because of this, there is no impetus for her to test her limits or make concrete plans for the future.

As Alicia points out, this means that Liz doesn't even know the limits of her powers. As far as we can tell, her mind-bending powers are currently limited to the Academy. But if their limit is just a few acres, then she can't just expect her ideals to come true, at least not on a country-wide level. She needs to step up and make plans for the world outside of her direct influence.

There's also the elephant in the room: Alicia herself. Alicia is not affected by Liz's latent charm powers. She can directly oppose Liz, and she's not the only one. Duke and Henri have constant, daily contact with Liz and are not under her spell. If Liz is unable to figure out the range of her powers and why some people can resist them, then her ideals are just meaningless fluff as far as the greater kingdom is concerned.

And then we come to Liz's other big personality flaw. In a real way, she is unable to understand her true heart. She believes, as the Saint, that she isn't capable of negative emotions, not even subconsciously. This allows such emotions to dictate her actions with impunity. It doesn't even occur to her to question why she did things—like, say, magically restrain Alicia but not the man who kidnapped her as well. She feels that her goals are pure so her actions must be pure as well. The idea that she might dislike, fear, or even be jealous of Alicia is an anathema to the fiction of how she sees herself.

Now, with Alicia's return to school, the spell Liz has cast on herself is showing cracks. She can no longer ignore the idea that she may not be perfect. While Alicia may want Liz to step up and grow into being the perfect heroine to match her perfect villainess, Liz is a girl who has never consciously experienced negative emotions and is left facing them for the first time. That could be the makings of a villainess far different from the kind Alicia strives to be.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• The way it's framed, the confrontation with Liz and the argument with Duke happen on the same day. Yet, Alicia changes clothes between scenes.

• After two years in isolation, I am not surprised Alicia is a bit awkward, especially around someone showing her such direct and unexpected emotions.

• Good on Jill for being more than a yes-man. He immediately calls Alicia on her BS for how she treated Duke.

• In all the villainess stories I've read, I don't remember a single other one where the villainess had an eye patch. This was clearly an oversight and I am glad to see it remedied here.

I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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