The Librarian has gone missing. Hilda and Frida wait at the front desk, sure she’s about to suddenly appear with the book that helps explain Erik Ahlberg. But the Librarian is nowhere to be seen. She’s left behind a cart of books that still need to be shelved and the doorway to the secret room has been left cracked open. Something’s amiss, and our plucky tween heroes set out to discover what’s up in “The Witch,” a touching episode directed by Andy Coyle and written by Stephanie Simpson and Luke Pearson.
As always, spoilers herein.
1.) All Them Witches
I guess I thought we already learned the Librarian was a witch when we saw her last season, what with her dress and overall demeanor and ability to use magic, but Hilda and Frida seem shocked at this revelation. Maybe that was something only we, the audience, were meant to put together? Maybe it was a fun tidbit to speculate over? In any case, while we’re treated to an assortment of other creatures and monsters, witches make for this week’s primary focus, with their rules, their expectations, and their world.
“Being a witch is more about knowledge and knowing the true shape of things rather than knowing about spells and power,” the Librarian tells the girls. Indeed, the Hilda witches stress knowledge so heavily, their Tower — which, in VanderMeer fashion, runs underground — is lined with shelves and shelves of books stacked atop each other. The Librarian is a Keeper of the Books, and therefore sworn to make sure these tomes are safe, preserved, cherished, and accounted for.
Simpson and Pearson dig into how smart, educated women were always perceived as witches. They present the witches as something aspirational, an honor to achieve. Just look how stoked Frida is at the end when she’s invited to join their ranks.
And while witches make for the primary supernatural entity, the animators also flash through various other monsters and creatures. There’s a plant with a carnivorous face hidden in its petals, a lava monster, eldritch beasts with eyes in their hands and teeth in their palms, and a monkey gargoyle after a good drink. Even Jabu-Jabu makes an appearance. We could have lingered on any one of these, but there’s something more fascinating about them when we’re given only a glimpse.
2.) Animation is the Most Expressive Medium
Most of these creatures are seen during the central puzzle-solving sequence. Hilda does not lack for imagination and it feels that, oftentimes, the animators’ biggest struggles come from trying to find a place to fit it all in.
But I want to take a moment to appreciate the background designs in “The Witch.” For although it features far more interior sets than a typical Hilda episode, the world still feels expansive and wondrous. Each design, each location has this used and warm feeling. Hilda and Frida pass through a Borgesian labyrinth of secret rooms filled with infinite shelves, into rooms with so many arches and looming balconies and warm tones you would think Coyle had looked toward Guillermo del Toro.
The animators just blow through these locations, too, knock them out in a manner of seconds. We pass through pits and swaps and icy sow field, each one made of its own unique motifs and designs, each one on screen for only an instant, but that’s still enough to make it feel like a whole, realized place.
It does make me wonder what other locations the animators have kicking around and what other place we’re heading toward this season.
3.) Those in Power
So far this season, there have been three prominent authority figures. First of all, there’s Hilda’s Mum, named Johanna for the series. Her screen time hasn’t added up to much, mostly enough so we can see her growing exasperation toward Hilda, as well as her overall concern for Hilda’s safety. Almost like this will be important later. Then there’s Erik Ahlberg, far more authoritarian, far more concerned with exerting influence and control. Finally, we have The Committee of Three, essentially a High Witch Council. They are comprised of a dominatrix, an abuela, and Blue Diamond, and have gotten so wrapped up in their responsibilities, they only care about what is proper and by the book.
Continued belowWhen we meet them, they are two hours away from casting the Librarian (whose name, by the way, is Kaisa, perhaps after her voice actor, Kaisa Hammerlund?) into The Void of No Return for failing to recover an overdue library book. They are all pretty gung-ho about this, like it’s something they rarely get to do and therefore relish every opportunity.
Bumbling authority figures are nothing new to young people’s stories. Portrayed as ineffectual or outright corrupt, these texts, from Star Wars to Harry Potter to Adventure Time, encourage their audience to question those in charge. Certainly in Hilda, with The Committee of Three, we see figures who are out of the loop, who crave even that smallest modicum of control so they act rashly and aggressively to hold onto it. They never listen and fail to see what’s in front of them.
In Hilda, however, these figures aren’t there to be vanquished. The kids stand in front of The Committee and try to reason with them, try to make them understand. There’s still a measure of respect at play. Success doesn’t come from vanquishing them, but from making them finally listen.
That being said, when they opened a portal to The Void of No Return, one of the tentacle monsters reached out and grabbed their associate, Lloyd. I didn’t see him return after the story resolved, where everyone stood around, laughing and agreeable. No one seemed concerned that he had been taken, no one seemed to have noticed he had been taken. So that was kind of messed up.
4.) Three Forces
Last week I talked about how although Hilda is rash and impulsive, she ultimately solves her issues through compassion and empathy. After “The Witch,” I wonder how much of that was because she never had access to a big sword? Or, and this is more likely the case, if it was because Frida’s already a more analytical person, and part of her struggle is trying to solve problems while Hilda slices and dices everything in sight? This episode, this series, presents instances where characters react with blind courage or quick wit or blunt power in order to solve a problem. The resolution ultimately comes when there’s a balance of all three.
Neither the girls nor the Librarian would have made it through the labyrinth without each other, nor could they have fended off the creatures in The Void of No Return without the Librarian’s magical abilities or Frida’s quick thinking or Hilda’s willingness to throw herself into danger. Balance. The world requires balance.
5.) Teachers and Students
“The Witch” concludes on a warm and tender moment. We learn that the reason the Librarian has not collected the overdue library book was because it’s in the possession of her old teacher, Matilda Pilqvist, aka Tildy. (We’ve seen her before, back in “The Bird Parade.”) The Librarian is ashamed because she doesn’t think she met the expectations Tildy set out for her, that she’s not the witch she was trained to be.
“Things never turn out quite like you expect,” Tildy explains. “You’re the Keeper of the Books. And that’s a wonderful surprise.” Encouraged, recharged, and instilled with a new sense of confidence, the Librarian is able to push on and overcome their problems.
Although I don’t think she realized it, the Librarian also takes on a mentor role to Frida and Hilda. They follow her through the secret chambers and she helps guide and protect them, pushes Frida, especially, to better work. She’s encouraging and patient, allows them to explore a situation even while time runs out. She’s also willing to sacrifice herself, though “The Witch” goes for an obvious fake out.
Contrast these relationships with the authority figures. The creators present a level of trust and commitment in these dynamics not seen with the high-ranking members. Hilda understands the importance of having someone guide us and defend us, who sees the potential in us, and encourages us, even if we veer from the path we thought we were on. In that way, the Librarian and Tildy have one of the purest relationships we’ve yet seen.
Of course, Twig doesn’t appear at all, so that’s a clear fail.
