The Black Butler anime is back again with another adaptation of a storyline from Yana Toboso’s long-running manga series, this time setting the Emerald Witch Arc on screen. CloverWorks, thus far, is doing another exceptional job at adapting Toboso’s beautiful work, especially with the stunning visuals in the season’s opening and ending sequences. However, the pretty art is only a fraction of Black Butler’s appeal. The series has always been known for its intriguingly dark mysteries, and the Emerald Witch Arc is one of them.
Ciel Phantomhive’s newest sleuthing job from Queen Victoria is to investigate a string of odd deaths in Southern Germany, where he is met with far more than he bargained for. Curses, werewolves, and witches—it all might sound like some fairy tale, but Black Butler is not known for giving happily-ever-afters. In a world where demons, grim reapers, and zombies exist, one can only expect something more sinister for Ciel to discover. Black Butler fans know how dark and tragic the series can get, but this season might just end up exceeding their expectations.
Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc’s Premier Introduced a Gruesome Curse
Disease-Like Deaths Hit Black Butler Like an Epidemic
The first scene in the debut episode of Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc takes place in Southern Germany, where a pair of young men pursue a fox during a hunting game, only to lose it when it disappears into what they referred to as the “Haunted Woods.” Against their better judgment, they proceed further to stay on the fox’s tail. However, instead of finding the fox, they end up happening upon a monstrous wolf-like figure, the sight of which sends both men high-tailing it back to their manor.
They appear to have escaped safely, but the Haunted Woods caught up to them, regardless. Immediately after arriving at the manor, both men suffer nosebleeds and painful facial swelling before suddenly keeling over. Apparently, according to Chlaus, a special contact of Ciel’s, later in the episode, these men are two of many victims who suffered these symptoms before passing away.
According to the locals that were questioned, every person who had died with similar symptoms had all previously visited the same forest. This forest, referred to as the “Werewolves’ Forest” by locals, is said to be cursed. For this reason, people have surmised that the mysterious deaths are all caused by the witches, who live within the forest.
Witch Hunts & Executions Become a Central Theme in Black Butler’s Newest Season
The Green Witch Arc Features Deals With Demonic Beings
In the world of Black Butler, Southern Germany has a local legend concerning the witch hunts that occurred centuries in the past. In order to escape the torture and executions, many witches fled deep into what is now known as Werewolves’ Forest, where they established a village called Wolfsschlucht. The stories say that these witches summoned werewolves to protect them from being hunted down, which is what earned the forest its name.
Ciel and the entire Phantomhive household eventually find themselves in this village later in Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc Episode 1. At Wolfsschlucht, Ciel and Sebastian meet the ruler of the Werewolves’ Forest, Sieglinde Sullivan. To their shock, Sullivan turns out to be a young girl even younger than Ciel himself. What’s stranger is that every denizen of the village is a woman; there are apparently no other male inhabitants aside from Sullivan’s butler and bodyguard, Wolfram Gelzer.
The have been isolated from the modern world, and there are a ton of medieval torture devices in plain sight. Ciel doesn’t believe in the legitimacy of curses or the existence of witches, but every new discovery further proves that there is some reality to what the locals claim. Sullivan repeats Chlaus’ discoveries about the legend when questioned by Ciel, adding details from her own personal experience. She claims witches used magic to prevent great calamities, but were treated unfairly.
Sullivan confirms witches did indeed escape into the forest, though the involvement of werewolves was the work of one witch. The Green Witch, according to Sullivan, agreed with a werewolf and gave him her legs in return for protecting the village that the witches established. To keep this pact alive, it was customary for every descendant of the Green Witch to have their feet painfully bound until they were rendered unable to walk. Although she was just a child, Sullivan, was subjected to this agonizing practice.
Black Butler’s Sieglinde Sullivan is the Newest "Must Protect At All Costs” Anime Character
Sullivan is a Character Who Reeks of Tragedy
Sieglinde Sullivan somewhat serves as a mirror of Ciel Phantomhive. She is a young child burdened with an immense responsibility that forced her to grow up faster than she should have. Because of her role as the Green Witch’s last descendant, she has a duty to oversee and care for the Wolfsschlucht. This is something that Sullivan does to the best of her ability, although she is extremely curious about the world beyond the Werewolves’ Forest.
Regardless, leaving the forest isn’t a luxury allotted to her because of both her duty and the fact that she—along with the other villagers—is in danger of the very creature that is supposed to protect Wolfsschlucht. One villager was left with grave injuries after venturing into the forest without her protective talisman. An older inhabitant claimed this was because a figure called “Herr Werewolf,” who is supposedly the werewolf summoned by the original Green Witch, disliked having outsiders within the village.
Sullivan believes it is because the original Green Witch’s Blood was diluted over many generations. As pointed out by Sebastian, the werewolves are keeping the inhabitants of the Wolfsschlucht trapped within the Werewolves’ Forest more than they are protecting them. The traditions of Sullivan’s bloodline forced her to undergo the painful practice of foot-binding, an old Chinese custom that was later banned, until she couldn’t walk. She has no choice but to be carried around by Wolfram like a doll.
Because of the werewolves within the forest and her duty as the current Green Witch, Sullivan is not just a prisoner of the village but also of her own body. Past the more mature front she tries to uphold for her role, Sullivan is a naive and curious child. Yet, she has resigned herself to her fate. She has never seen the world outside the Werewolves’ Forest and has accepted that she may die before she does.
All Roads in Black Butler’s: Emerald Witch Arc Point to Sullivan’s Demise
Ciel Phantomhive Could Either be her Savior or the Catalyst That Leads to Her Death
Ciel and Sebastian have faced countless threats before in Black Butler, but they have yet to face anything like curses or actual, spell-casting witches. During the Emerald Witch Arc’s first episode, Ciel and Sebastian briefly discussed ritualistic practices and demon worship. The original Green Witch had sacrificed a part of herself to summon the aid of a supernatural creature, and the power of that pact has weakened over several generations.
It is possible that, in order to strengthen that bond with Herr Werewolf, Sullivan could end up being sacrificed in a ritual. Sullivan had already been presented as Ciel’s mirror, and Ciel himself was among the many children who were kidnapped by cultists in order to summon Sebastian. Black Butler is not a series that shies away from putting younger characters in harm’s way or even killing them off completely.
Black Butler manga is already far ahead of the anime’s current storyline, but the anime adaptation has strayed from canon before. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the anime’s new season forced Ciel to relive his trauma through whatever tragedy could befall Sullivan. Something more to add is that the last time Ciel faced his past, which was during Black Butler: Book of Circus, Ciel had Sebastian burn everything to the ground, and everyone involved in the entire ordeal died.
Ciel even coldly allowed Sebastian to kill Doll, a person who was not only completely innocent in all matters concerned but had also shown Ciel genuine care and kindness. If Ciel and Sebastian are afflicted with the curse in the Emerald Witch Arc, then breaking it might require sacrificing Sullivan in order to appease Herr Werewolf. Sebastian Michaelis, as a demon, won’t die, but he is willing to do anything to save the soul that he’s been waiting for years to feed on.
