Judgment Deferred.
So we break off the issue as Teita and Riche intervene to save Coco and Agott. They give the Knights Moralis some lip, and before the no fun allowed crew recovers, Qifrey and Olruggio arrive and call their peers to task for being gung ho about mind wiping people first and asking questions or helping Unknowing never.
This leads to a slightly more sane investigation where the Knights see Coco draw a completely normal version of the spell, leaving them with no proof that she caused the river collapse, especially when they check Coco for brands or tattooed casting seals like brimhats use and find nothing but the ink-stains and callouses of an ordinary apprentice
You see, Knights Moralis, if you had shown that basic level of diligence the first time, you wouldn’t have had a river-cleaving sword pointed at you for the temerity to threaten little kids.
As they vacate, Qifrey and Coco find her hat and ink pot, and Coco notes that the ink pot which should have lost some volume is as full as the day she got it. Thus, we return to town as Qifrey takes her back to the stationary store. She gets to hang out with Tartah (the owner’s grandson) while Qifrey meets the old man about that investigation he tasked the guy with before.
The ink in Coco’s bottle is a match for the mysterious brimhat ink, and Qifrey even noodles out how the brimhat is adulterating Coco’s supply with magic mega-amps (seemingly, the brimhat’s own blood). He even tests out, causing a minor light spell to flash-bang the whole building. When the ink seller wants to report this to the proper authorities, Qifrey shows his scary side, determined to have his lead on the Brimhats and willing to erase the poor guy’s memory of this encounter in order to retain it.
Meanwhile, Tartah helped bandage Coco up, and she rewarded him by barraging him with questions about all the magic-enhancing dyes they had in glass jars. When the flash-bang hits, a bunch of jars are knocked over. Nothing spilled, nothing broken, but all the labels are off and it turns out Tartah has a pretty tortured existence because he’s totally colorblind; he can’t tell the different dyes apart without their proper places on the shelves as a guide, and in his words he’ll never be able to become a proper witch. As he leaves with Coco, Qifrey affirms that one of the faults of witch society is how unkind they can be to anyone different, which emphasizes both Coco’s present experience and the trouble Agott faced in her past.
The episode ends without too much of a hook for the next one, giving us a more comfortable resting place. Haven’t had one of those in a bit.
As a highlight, there are three speeches in this episode that counterpoint each other really well. The Knights Moralis look at the devastated river bank and see a catastrophe; one small stone starting an avalanche that irretrievably destroys everything. Qifrey, looking over the same scene as the flow returns, is more hopeful about what people can do with their power. Later the Brimhat gives a different view of magic, referring to it as a lie that colors the world, which seems to riff on being a third position opposite both Qifrey (who sees wonder) and the Knights (who see danger). They all seem to have points in their own way, though the main point with the knights is that they’re sure to harass Coco again in the future.