So the little girl set forth. Where two paths crossed she met the bzou [werewolf], who said to her, “Where are you going?… Which path are you taking? The one of needles or the one of pins?”

Those lines come from the Little Red Riding Hood variant The Tale of the Grandmother, largely believed to be one of the earliest versions of the story. While DanMachi is based in mythology rather than folklore (the difference being that the former is religious and the latter literary), I still found myself coming back to this exchange between the girl and the werewolf. Not because Bell is delivering food to his sick grandmother, but because both paths he is faced with stand to be painful and dangerous. Both pins and needles can hurt you, and neither makes for a comfortable way forward. But still, both Bell and the girl in red must choose one or the other. Stopping at the crossroads or going back aren’t options.

What Freya is trying to do is to force Bell to stand still in the fantasy she’s created for herself, which makes it all the more imperative that he moves forward. Freya is banking on the idea that Bell will ultimately be worn down by the endless cycle of fighting her familia is putting him through; her goal is not so much to make him stronger, but to force him into exhaustion that will make his mind stop thinking. It’s part of her pattern of abuse, and at this point, even her loyal children seem to be having second thoughts. But they’re also confused by what Hedin is doing; he’s the driving force in Bell’s “training,” and even the Gulliver brothers are beginning to wonder why he’s so harsh. Part of it is that they all seem to be coming to a grudging respect for Bell, who’s proved tougher than anyone expected him to be. But maybe they’re starting to have doubts about their goddess as well.

It’s not like that’s never happened before. The reveal this week that Mia is a lapsed member of Freya Familia shows that some people have the guts to stand up to her and disagree with her to her face. Because of her status, Mia seems to have retained her memories of Bell, and it’s interesting the way her words to him mirror Hedin’s. Both of them tell Bell that he can’t stand still but that he needs to move forward on his own two feet. The tide can’t just carry him along; he must choose which path to follow and then actually do it. Needles or pins, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is moving.

If Hedin is, in fact, trying to sabotage Freya’s plans, he’s doing a decent job. Freya’s goal may be to wear Bell out and down, but Hedin’s vicious battle training seems to be aiming to infuriate Bell, to make him realize that he’s being used and that he needs to stand up and stop it. Maybe he’s trying to help Bell recall the differences between fighting Freya Familia and training with Ais; certainly, Mia’s words send him straight to Loki Familia’s doorstep to confront her. And there could be something to this theory, because even Freya’s spell can’t fully force Bell from Ais’ mind. It might also not work as well on her as it does on other people, since Ais isn’t particularly good at understanding emotions, including her own. Contrast her with Welf in this episode: Welf is baffled by all the light armor he was making, but he doesn’t think too much beyond mentioning it. Ais, after little prompting, can recall training sessions with Bell, even if she’s not entirely sure they’re real. Ais’ emotional illiteracy has, therefore, protected her, which makes sense, given what Freya’s divine domain is.

Speaking of divine domains, Hermes may be giving him a hand, as well. He’s a trickster god (and frankly fulfills the role rather better in DanMachi than fellow trickster Loki), and that seems to equate to him realizing that Freya’s charm is tricking him. Every time he gets close to the answer, the spell resets him, but he’s not a trickster for nothing, and he eventually manages a way around it. (And who knew that bellowing out his love for Asfi would be his chosen method?) He’s finally become Hestia’s ally at the end of this week, and his plans to “make a hearth” are almost certainly tied into her godly realm. Can a big enough hearth contain a fire strong enough to destroy Freya’s spell?

I think so. After all, both needles and pins will melt if the flames are hot enough.

Rating:

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