WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, "The Princess Without Subjects," now streaming on Funimation and Hulu.
By this point in Wandering Witch, Elaina has already endured many sorrowful moments. The people she's encountered who have suffered unfortunate fates have met them through reasons beyond their control, with Elaina serving as a spectator. An example of this is the flower field that took the lives of innocents in the last episode, creating a perpetual cycle of victims. In Episode 4, Elaina's latest stop-off involves yet another tragedy that, sparked by events outside of a princess' control, lead to the eradication of an entire nation.
The princess Elaina meets is called Mirarosé, who wakes up after the witch's arrival with some memory loss. By this point in time, her country has already been destroyed, leaving her as the only confirmed survivor. Mirarosé only remembers her name and some innate skills that are enough to help her live on her own, like cooking. Within the castle's magic barrier, the princess lives a life secure from the looming threat outside.
This threat is a giant monster that has been eating civilians. The rampage of this monster, known as Javalier, destroyed the city's landscape to the point that Elaina doesn't even see any people among the remaining ruins. There's also a mystery surrounding this beast, but despite that, the princess feels an obligation to fight the monster with her magic abilities. Enlisting Elaina's help, the two of them prepare a deadly trap for Javalier.
Similar to Elaina's other adventures, there are layers to this short story. On the surface, it's just a simple mission: hunting Javalier. But the truth behind this situation turns out to be a lot darker than it first seems. The princess of this ruined nation once had a secret relationship with a chef of lower status, a fact that her father hated. He ordered the execution of her loved one, a sad situation that she couldn't stop. Neither could she prevent losing her child later on.
As a result, Mirarosé ends up lashing out at her family and nation; actions that she can't take back. She was the one to turn her own father into the hideous monster Javalier, forcing him to feed upon his human subjects and supposedly still conscious of this awful fact.
The ruin of her entire nation is an atrocity that Mirarosé willingly causes, but the despair that she intends to inflict on her father is on a whole other scale. In the present, the princess recovers her memories while attacking the trapped Javalier -- making his death far from a quick one as she fully recovers her memory.
As the princess faces a dark and tragic fate, this installment of Elaina's adventure serves as a warning for her to not go down the same path. While the world can be unfair to people as they encounter hardships, violence isn't a true solution. Rather, violence in this situation only inspires further violence. It doesn't restore what has been taken away. While Mirarosé will remain trapped by her past, Elaina gets the chance to move on as she heads to her next destination.
