The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.” gives Chise an unexpected visit to her new grandmother-in-law. At least, that’s the closest approximation I can come to Chise’s relationship to Elias’ mentor. She even acts like a doting granny, even though she doesn’t look like it.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.”: Details

'The Ancient Magus' Bride season 2' NA key visual.
Not shown here: the doting granny secretly watching from afar.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.” is the 4th episode (you can read reviews for Ep. 1, Ep. 2, and Ep. 3 here) of season 2 of this dark urban fantasy supernatural mystery horror anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Kore Yamazaki (Frau Faust). Studio Kafka is still the animation studio behind season 2.

Kazuaki Terasawa remains the director behind The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 in general, with Naokado Fujiyama, Takeharu Sengoku, and Kyouhei Shinfuku producing. Terasawa is also the writer, with Junichi Matsumoto returning from season 1 to compose the music once more.

Speaking of music: JUNNA returns to sing “Dear” as the opening theme music. Meanwhile, “Mubansou” by edda is the ending theme music.

Voice Cast

The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.” features the voices of Atsumi Tanezaki (Dani Chambers in English dub) as Chise Hatori, Ryōta Takeuchi (Brian Mathis in English dub) as Elias Ainsworth, and Koki Uchiyama (Austin Tindle in English dub) as Ruth. Other notable voices in this episode include Kotono Mitsuishi (Lydia Mackay in English dub) as Rahab, and Sumire Morohoshi (Skyler McIntosh in English dub) as Stella Barklem.

Where to Watch

The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.” premiered on April 27, 2023. You can watch this episode of this season of the anime and all previous season 2 episodes only on Crunchyroll.

Warning: spoilers for The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.” below. If you want to watch Chise get a very unexpected trip to her granny-in-law’s place, then stop here, and come back once you’ve also returned from a nice cup of coffee on an island that may or may not be real.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.”: Plot Summary

'The Ancient Magus' Bride' season 2 Ep. 4 "The cowl does not make the monk." thumbnail depicting a smiling Rahab.
Clearly, she’s a case of “Don’t judge a granny by her cover”.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.” picks up right where we last left off in the previous episode. Chise and Ruth suddenly become lost in mists while walking with Stella, only to suddenly end up standing on an ocean(?!) facing a tiny island. The island features an even tinier wooden house on it, as well as a mysterious woman named Rahab, who greets Chise and Ruth as her student’s friends. Yes, this is the same Rahab who mentored Elias, and she apparently wants to meet her new grandkids-in-law right at that moment.

Chise has a very informative conversation with Rahab over some nice coffee. This includes learning why Elias thought to make Chise his bride as well, even though it became pretty clear that Elias had (and still has) no idea what a “bride” is. Rahab is still pretty happy to learn from Chise that Elias seems happy and excited these days since Chise started living with him. Thus, Rahab gives Chise her blessing. What that blessing is, Chise has no idea yet. The only thing that’s certain is that she has Rahab’s blessing as Rahab sends Chise (and Ruth) back to Elias’ house. Soon, it’s time for Chise (along with Elias and Ruth) to head back to the College. Elias wants to go through a shortcut to save on transit time though. So with a familiar centaur as a guide, Chise and co. take that shortcut…and probably wish that they hadn’t.

Back to School…the Hard Way

'The Ancient Magus' Bride' season 2 Ep. 4 "The cowl does not make the monk." screenshot depicting Chise and co. being confronted by the Hounds while taking a shortcut to the College.
This is definitely one shortcut everyone is better off not taking.

Partway through the shortcut, Chise and co. are confronted by the Hounds. These totally not the Hounds of Tindalos guard these secret passageways between time and space, but are apparently amenable to bribes of food (specifically: raw steak). All Chise and co. have to do is swallow some offered Hound spikes (which apparently taste horrible), and the Hounds let them pass and use that passageway. They don’t like it when the travelers use different entrances and exits though, so Chise and co. have to be careful about that. Otherwise though, Chise and co. now have a secret shortcut to the College from their house.

Back in the College though, things aren’t quite well. Zoe talks to Dr. Alexandra about his fear of Chise and Elias, while Lucy has a strange nightmare about her past. People are stacking wooden pallets and what looks like sheets of cloth covered in glue together in her nightmare. For some reason, this is horrifying to her. Why? We don’t know. I suspect we’ll find out that horrifying secret in the next episode of The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 though.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.”: The Good

'The Ancient Magus' Bride' season 2 Ep. 4 "The cowl does not make the monk." screenshot depicting Rahab trying to be mysteriously cute, and it's working.
Rahab is a bit odd, but it’s clear that she’s one of the good guys, er, girls here.

If you’ve been following The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2, then you’ll continue to be delighted by Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.”. Especially by Rahab. It’s clear that she’s treating Chise as somewhere between surrogate daughter and surrogate granddaughter. Rahab certainly dotes on Chise like a sweet old granny, and really, Chise needs a doting grandmother in her life.

Rahab aside, the other part of the story I liked was the introduction of the not-Hounds of Tindalos in The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.”. I felt like these Lovecraftian monsters fit the overall tone and themes of the anime. Now I’m honestly waiting for something like the King in Yellow or Cthulhu itself to show up.

And once more, I have to give a shoutout to the incredible animation quality Studio Kafka put into season 2. Again, especially in the eyes department. As you can see above, Rahab has a really nice shade of blue-grey for her eyes. I don’t know why Studio Kafka love their hyper-detailed and colorful eyes, but they should keep at it.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.”: The Bad

'The Ancient Magus' Bride' season 2 Ep. 4 "The cowl does not make the monk." screenshot depicting Rahab, Chise, and Ruth all being exasperated by Elias, chibi-style.
Ehh, do I really have to say anything bad about it?

I’ve been a big fan of Kore Yamazaki’s incredible story since that first volume of the manga came out all those years ago in 2013. The anime does not disappoint, and continues to not disappoint in this second season. The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2 Ep. 4 “The cowl does not make the monk.” is definitely no exception. Seriously, watch it for yourself. If you don’t like it, well, I guess I can safely say that dark urban fantasy horror stories are not for you.