 Just when you think Madlax is going to throw you a bone and start explaining what’s really been going on, it turns around and leaves you even more confused. Just what is real and what isn’t here? What is the true power of the Elies books? What is Friday Monday really after? With the body count beginning to rise, there may not be many people left to learn the answers...
21 - Cruel Confession / Guilty
Under Quanzitta's guidance, Margaret brings the three Elies books together and begins the ritual to open the Door to the other side. Elenore, unwilling to accept that Margaret's better served by Carrossea in this journey than by her, tries to interrupt the ceremony, but by the time she reaches Quanzitta, the incantation has been completed and Margaret and Carrossea have already passed to another place, leaving Elenore and the others to simply sit and await their return. The opening of the Gate has an effect on Madlax - already suffering from fever as a result of the wounds inflicted on her by Limelda, she turns delirious, calling for Margaret not to go through with the ritual. On the other side of the Gate, Carrossea begins searching for the key to his missing past, but faced with the Gate that could reveal the truth, Madlax's words reach Margaret, who begins to have second thoughts about the path she’s found herself on...
22 - Violent Feelings / Rage
Friday Monday is now in possession of the three Elies books, and intends to once again unleash the chaos he first unleashed 12 years previously - to his mind he's somehow saving the human race, but I doubt too many others would see it that way. Back in Quanzitta's village, Madlax awakens, with no trace of the injuries inflicted by Limelda. Quanzitta's concerned by Margaret's refusal to open the Door, and believes Madlax is the key to changing her mind. Madlax, strangely, can sense Margaret's location, and leaves the village to find her, taking Vanessa and Elenore with her - but her path takes them across the warzone, and Limelda is still on her trail...
23 - Lost Hearts / Doubt
While Margaret returns to Friday Monday's tender care, Elenore continues to search for her, but when she finds Vanessa's dead body she begins to fear the worst. Madlax survives Margaret's attack - and just like after Limelda shot her, her wound has completely disappeared. Learning from Nakhl that Margaret is with Friday Monday, she realises what he's after: the missing page of Margaret's book, which is in her possession; and her. Not wanting to disappoint him, Madlax joins up with Elenore and heads to try and stop his plans, and retrieve Margaret, before it's too late...
One episode in to the volume and the main cast begins to dwindle as Margaret and Carrossea’s search for the truth begins to claim casualties. When Margaret, Carrossea and Quanzitta began the ritual, I was all geared up for finally finding out what had happened 12 years ago – the facts behind Margaret’s past, the secrets behind who Laetitia and Poupeé were and their significance to the story, and more besides. There’s certainly a lot of that information given out, but it’s one of those circumstances where the more you’re told, the less you feel you know – the revelations leave you asking as many new questions as they answered, and the story turns off in another, unexpected direction that works towards answering them.
It all comes back to the man with the daftest name in anime, Friday Monday. Given the suffering that Gazth-Sonika’s been put through thanks to his manoeuvring, there can't be many people who would side with his "saving the world" view of himself, but that's what we have to work with. The Elies books provide the power he needs to put his plans into action; Margaret is they key that will allow him to access that power; Madlax is the foil that can stop him in his tracks; and as this disc progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that Madlax is no normal human. Fate is at work here - it seems to have special plans for Madlax and her role in events, and it’s not going to let any human intervention stand in the way of those plans. The result is a woman who’s almost superhuman, to the point where it stretches the old “suspension of disbelief” a little. There was a scene with a similar problem way back in episode 1 that almost put me off the series, the first time I saw it, but with the way Madlax and the story have been developed since then, it’s less of a stretch now to just go with a flow and accept that there is something very unusual about her.
All of this is quite heavy going – there’s a lot to see and take in, and while events can be followed quite easily the pacing is frenetic & doesn’t leave you with much time to think about what’s happening. That does mean the three episodes here seem to be over almost as soon as they begin, but sometimes it’s nice to get a short breather to give you time to let everything sink in. There is some fun thrown in to lighten things up a bit – one particular scene of Elenore being let loose with the heavy weaponry was particularly enjoyable (but then I am an Elenore fan) – but for the most part this disc is one revelation after another, one conflict after another, with none of the characters ever really being safe, perhaps with the exception of Madlax herself.
After being quite slow-paced during the earlier volumes, Madlax is really ramping up to its climax now, and these episodes provide plenty of action and revelations – so much so that you barely get the chance to take it all in. It’s completely riveting and thoroughly enjoyable throughout, and the story is left nicely poised for the final volume. It took a while for the series to grow on me, but I’m now completely hooked – Madlax continues to entertain and surprise, and comes highly recommended.
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