Puella Magi Madoka Magica/Fridge

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Fridge Brilliance

  • The very end is this and a Tear Jerker. Homura has the black "witchy" wings surrounding her, but they will never get to her. Why? Because thinking of falling to despair will remind her that she will be reunited with Madoka, and that will give her hope, the opposite of despair. She will never be reunited with Madoka.
    • she could still die by using up all her magic though.
      • I thought that they don't run out of magic, but simply fall into despair? That their magic is linked to their souls and emotions?
        • No, they can run out of magic. That's how Sayaka dies in the new universe: She uses up all of her magic to help Kyousuke.
  • Homura has lived lifespans in the same month period and stayed sane. She's completely dedicated to Madoka in ways normal psychology cannot begin to describe. Even if she were to fight the good fight against the demons for centuries; this would be easy.
  • Take another look at the silhouettes in the ending-theme. Mami's silhouette is the only one sitting down (likely a reference to her death in episode three), and Homura's can be seen turning after Madoka's and reaching for her as she walks past.
  • Kyoko's dad claimed that she was a witch. As of Episode 8, turns out he wasn't too far from the truth.
  • As of Episode 8, Homura's magic power has been confirmed as Time Stands Still. Now consider the relevance of a wish for time to stand still in Goethe's Faust... For those who don't know, Faust's bargain with Mephistopheles says that if he ever wishes for time to stand still in a moment of perfect happiness, his soul would be forfeit.
    • This is driven home further in a later rebroadcast of episode 10. Madoka's witch name is revealed to be Kriemhild Gretchen. Gretchen was Faust's lover, who went crazy and died. Homura, with the aforementioned time powers, is desperately trying to save Madoka from dying and/or becoming a witch. Subtext much?
    • Homura's case is actually a vicious inversion: Faust's condition is a moment of perfect happiness because that means he has stopped advancing: "When on an idler's bed I stretch myself in quiet. There let, at once, my record end!" In episode 11, we learn that Homura must always move forward, or her soul will be forfeit...in a moment of perfect despair. "Then bind me in thy bonds undying, My final ruin then declare! Then let the death-bell chime the token...The clock may stop, the hand be broken, Then Time be finished unto me!"
  • The mysterious runes appear to be messages from the witch, or her familiars. Translated, they often seem to be like a Madness Mantra. Considering the ultimate origins of witches from fallen Magical Girls, they probably are a Madness Mantra.
    • The runes are phrases in cryptic German. You know, like the original story of Faust.
  • So after Kyubey is killed (temporarily) by Homura in episode 8, he suddenly seems to remember that she's done it once before. This seems a little incongruous at first, but the reality is: he didn't suddenly just remember. He always knew; he just isn't being coy any more. Why not? Because he's mad as Hell (no pun intended). His voice has barely changed, his expression (of course *shudder* ) hasn't changed, but nevertheless he's furious. He just doesn't show it in ways we easily recognize because he's an otherworldly creature; if he were human, he'd probably be frothing at the mouth right now. And can you blame him? He was about to get Madoka to contract with him, which everything would indicate represents pretty much total victory for him - not surprising considering what Magical Girls, especially those not disposed to becoming cynical and self-interested, which almost certainly includes Madoka. This troper would certainly be more than a little miffed if he'd just been denied that.
    • Alternatively, he's trolling her. "You just never learn, don't you?"
    • He can't be mad: if he is healthy and was truthful, he can't have emotions, also known as "mental disease". And I doubt they will send mentally handicapped persons to Earth.
      • Note though that - unless yesy translation bungled the Ep 11 Kyubey-Madoka conversation - he switches to speaking about his race as a whole when asked directly if he ever tried to understand human suffering. He might have contracted the condition while on Earth. But it's impossible to tell for sure.
        • But actually he might have dropped a hint here. He regularly expresses frustration about his inability to understand how humans feel. Why would he ever want to understand human feelings, if he's emotionless? As the Anti-Spiral King said "knowing is enough", and he has experience of many lifetimes plus telepathy to know how humans will react. The desire to understand how humans feel is both fundamentally rooted in empathy and something he doesn't need from an utilitarian viewpoint. Of course, he might have been saying that to highlight his "Hey, I'm an emotionless alien, I don't really realize how much I'm making you suffer (Of course I'm reading signals corresponding with extreme distress from your mind right now, but you're too weak-minded to remember that)" line in the second half of the series... But his post-retcon version, which has no apparent ulterior goals, expresses the same sentiment.
    • Episode 10 showed that Homura DID kill him in that timeline, just before they ran into Madoka. As for his reaction, given his nature, it's safe to assume that he just doesn't care.
      • Indeed. Episode 10 shows that in timelines where Madoka is a Magical Girl, she has only been one for 'a week' as of Homura's first day of school. Timeline 4 shows Homura leaping out of bed and stalking off, showing up outside Madoka's window holding a dead Kyubey. Despite the common subtitles of that scene, Madoka doesn't appear to actually recognize her except in the same vague 'crossing memories' way shown in Episode 8 (she only says 'Homu...?' in a confused way, not her whole name). Then the 'current timeline' segment of Episode 10 shows her blowing up another Kyubey, which is the event Kyubey is referencing when he says "second time". Presumably ever since she promised Madoka to save her from Kyubey, the very first thing Homura has done in every subsequent timeline is prevent Kyubey from contacting Madoka a week before she starts school.
  • For a long time, this troper thought that "Puella Magi" as a mistranslation, the product of someone at Shaft not brushing up on their dictionary skills enough. Given the Japanese title of the show, this troper still isn't certain that that isn't the case. But one thing that's starting to sway this troper away from that point of view is remembering that 'magus', the adjective in question, has a double-meaning - it may obviously be the root of 'magicus', whence we get our word 'magic' and all words related thereto, but it itself originally meant 'wise' i.e. the wise men of primitive tribes or of priesthoods, who naturally cultivated a certain air of mysticism around them and, thus, magic. Now to return to 'Puella Magi'. Given that 'Magi' is an adjective which doesn't agree with anything else in the title, it should be taken to mean 'of the Wise Man'. Or, alternatively, 'of Wiseman'. Now who does that remind you of...?
  • With the revelations of episode 9, the relative emotionlessness of Homura becomes Fridge Brilliance It is revealed in Episode 9 that Puella Magi are essentially giant entropy defying power plants for a sufficiently advance Alien species. The more emotions a Puella Magi lets up to the surface, the more energy they produce. If Homura was to allow her emotions of the fore instead of repressing them, she would essentially be giving in to Kyubey.
    • Episode 10 shows that she's actually distancing herself from the horror of watching everyone die over and over again.
  • Kyubey says he wouldn't be surprised if a Magical Girl ever succeeded in reviving another. Of course he wouldn't. He can't feel emotions, he just said so.
  • The Elsa Maria's barrier in episode 7 makes everything black and white. At a glance, this would seem to be a discretion shot so the viewers can't see Sayaka's insane expression. The Fridge Brilliance is that both Elsa Maria and Sayaka see the world in Black and White Morality.
  • Why are there no Magical BOYS? Because girls undergoing puberty are more emotional than boys and so would serve QB's purpose better
    • Not really. Boys undergoing puberty are actually just as emotional as girls. However, in most countries, boys are socialized to release their negative emotions through aggression like fighting. Girls are socialized to let it stew or act out verbally. For Kyubey, who is trying to run a system that requires to fight Witches and creates them from grief/sorrow to create energy to end entropy, girls are just much more efficient. Or it can simply be that Madoka Magica is a Deconstruction of the Magical Girl genre, it's pointless to put boys as fighters.
    • Boys might not be as desperate for things as girls are. Boys are generally raised to be the "man of the house" and girls are often raised to be somewhat dependent. So a boy might not be as quick to wish for something as girls are?
      • It's more likely that boys are taught to actually want concrete, direct things for themselves that they can use to benefit others, rather than being taught that they'll be rewarded for thinking of others ahead of themselves like girls are. The girls except Madoka all wish for huge, largely vague and abstract things that benefit others, thinking that they'll reap the much simpler, indirect benefits they really want, but since Kyubey has no emotions and can only seek to profit by granting the wish in its most literal form, it's just that much more efficient to only use girls.
        • Kyoko suggests in the fifth loop that wishes should be made for selfish things. This makes perfect sense as a selfish wish is limited in scope, has limited potential backfire for despair and does not involve the unpredictability that inevitably wreaks havok on selfless wishes made for others. She speaks from personal experience, her own selfless wish having destroyed her entire family through its unforeseen complications.
      • Suicide statistics also play a role. A teenage girl is more likely to commit suicide as a long drawn out attention seeking gambit(you could interpret Sayaka's breakdown as a cry for attention from Kyosuke). A teenage boy is less likely to try but more likely to succeed (a genuinely suicidal boy is more likely to just shoot his soul gem and be done with it). Considering witch transformations rely on the target's depression getting to dangerous rates the former is much more efficient.
    • Regardless of statistics, or what girls and boys are supposed to be like, everyone is different, so there should be some males with magical boy potential.
  • Kyoko is a constantly seen eating something and the food is her obsession. Because she and her entire family had fallen in poverty, and nearly starved. Real people were known to have food-hogging manias after prolonged hungers, particularly the young survivors of World War Two.
  • Episode 10 reveals that Homura has been stuck in a Groundhog Day Loop starting at the point that she transfers to Madoka's school as a result of her wish to protect Madoka. Seeing what she experiences in the 4 iterations of the loop previous to the current story goes a long way toward explaining Homura's character.
    • Episode 10 doesn't have an opening animation, instead diving straight into the plot and staying there. At the end of the episode, the opening plays. Nice way to drive the point home, guys!
    • Look at the lyrics of the opening after watching Episode 10 and it clicks. The song was sung from Homura's perspective the whole time
      • And look at them again after Episode 12: They now beautifully describe Homura in the new world. The "unforgotten promise" is no longer Homura's promise to save Madoka, but Madoka's promise that they'll meet again.
      • This part of the opening strangely makes MUCH more sense with Megahomu instead of Madoka.
    • It also explains why Homura has been doing so well in school and gym class.
    • Also, go watch episode 1 and compare with episode 10, the part where, technically, Homura leads Madoka to the nurse's office ...and vice versa. Shaft actually bothered to synchronize them. In episode 10 you can see how Madoka calls her "Homura-chan". In episode 1, Madoka calls her "Akemi-san" and you can see Homura frown for a moment and ask Madoka to call her "Homura". You can notice some other things Homura is not very amused with after watching episode 10. It just makes you feel bad for the poor girl...
      • Episode 3. After her nighttime conversation with Mami, Homura looks very pained, complete with Hidden Eyes. You would be that way too if someone who was your mentor in a previous timeline thinks of you as an enemy and doesn't wish to speak with you anymore. Heck, most of Homura's interactions with Mami are this. Giving Mami back Gertrud's Grief Seed? She doesn't want Mami to become a witch. Saying that Madoka's talent is a problem? In the previous timeline, Madoka became a witch that could end the world. Her refusal to explain these things to Mami? You saw what happened in the third timeline.
  • Madoka's doodles of everyone's magical girl outfits were astonishingly accurate, probably because she's seen them all before.
  • Episode 10 reveals that the dream Madoka had in the first episode is part of a previous, alternate timeline. After the "dream", Madoka wakes up on the day she meets Homura--at the beginning of another cycle.
  • Fate/Zero references. It is obvious due to Gen Urobuchi is the script-writer of this series (and author of Fate/Zero) and there are indirect references with some of the characters and abilities. (For example, with exception of her Always Save the Girl trope Homura Akemi is THE Kiritsugu Emiya of the story.) The timing is perfect for this anime to begin as the Fate/Zero anime is still in the works; this is maybe considered a very indirect and distant preview despite Fate/Zero is worked on by a different studio.
    • On that subject, check out the excerpt from the afterword on the Quotes page. Now, considering the reference to the heat death of the universe, it's not that much of a leap to connect it to Madoka. But then consider the next part: he talks about how the only way you can get a really happy ending is via a force that can do the impossible and reverse the decline of the universe, and someone purehearted enough to really believe in the inherent goodness of humanity. This story has both.
  • In episode 8, Homura asks Madoka why she's so self-sacrificing. This takes on a whole new meaning in episode 10, when you see that in one of the previous timelines, Madoka sacrificed herself to purify Homura's Soul Gem.
  • In Episode 10, why was Madoka so much more powerful in the last loop? Because a mahou shoujo's powers depend on the wish she makes, and she made a much more powerful wish that time around. In all the other loops, Madoka contracted at the beginning of the cycle; judging from the main timeline, her wish at that point would have been a throwaway like cake or just being a mahou shoujo. If she followed Kyubey's suggestions in the last cycle, she would have wished for power: to save Homura, to defeat Walpurgisnacht, or even to change fate.
    • As the first Drama CD reveals, her very first wish was to save the black cat she is holding in the opening after it was run over by a car. She is just that good-hearted. Of course, such a small wish does not give her much power.
  • Why does Kyubey, a Starfish Alien, Hive Minded Eldritch Abomination, look like an adorable mutant cat thing with big floppy ears? (I mean in-universe, not just because Cute Is Evil) His form was designed to appeal to teenage Japanese girls; it's a trick to help him lure his victims. The Cat Smile was chosen as the "cutest" expression, but due to his difficulty with emotions, he doesn't know what it should be in different circumstances, and leaves it the same to be on the safe side. The main thing that makes him seem a bit creepy in the show is the way his voice and expression never change no matter what's happening; show a still screenshot of him to someone and they'll usually go "D'aww!" Which is exactly what he's aiming for.
    • Also, it does help that there are magical girl anime in Madoka's world too, which probably made it easier.
  • May or may not be unintentional, but Homura is under Madoka's thumb.
    • In fact, that makes complete sense. The reason why Homura is under Madoka's thumb is because Homura is doing all of this is because of Madoka. In short, Homura is driven by Madoka. This also explains why Madoka's a Decoy Protagonist.
  • Ever stop to think about Soul Gems and Grief Seeds and why they're called that? Take the initials of Soul Gems, and flip them. SG becomes GS. GS stands for Grief Seeds. Guess what Soul Gems become. Also, Soul Gems are held by Magical Girls. Grief Seeds are held by witches. Guess what Magical Girls become.
    • Not only that, but remember how Sayaka let her Soul Gem completely darken? It wasn't just her using too much magic, it was because of her despair. Other girls have fallen because of despair as well. Despair...Grief?
  • Kyuubey has no concept of lying, and he can only tell the truth; he does seem, however, to have figured out how to lie by omission. On further consideration, his whole system -- telling only the truth, but one piece at a time -- seems designed to produce desperation more efficiently in Puella Magi who ask too many questions. "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH, but I'll tell you anyway since it makes you a better power source... You have only yourself to blame for asking."
  • Remember Homura warning Sayaka she had seen the result of making a wish for someone else and it never turned out well? That Sayaka needed to know the difference between wanting him healed and wanting his thanks? She was referring to Sayaka's wish in the previous timelines.
    • That was Mami speaking. I assumed she was referring to Kyoko.
  • In the Grand Finale of the anime, Madoka has powers strong enough to revive those that were killed by the Witches. Mami and Kyoko are brought back to life but not Sayaka. Why couldn't Sayaka be brought back? Because Sayaka turned into a witch and is beyond saving at that point in time where Mami had her head bitten off by Charlotte and Kyouko blew herself up taking Sayaka with her. Can be considered Fridge Depressing when you realize that Kyouko's sacrifice was in vain because if you believe that Kyouko was in love with Sayaka and wanted to be with her in death, they are no longer together and Kyouko must keep living.
    • It seems that Madoka gives Sayaka the option to come back to life, but Sayaka chooses not to because Kamijou and Hitomi are actually happy together.
      • I thought it was a bit more than just that. Word of God stated that Sayaka is doomed to always become a Witch if she becomes a magic girl. So Sayaka staying alive means not becoming a magic girl, probably being estranged from Kyouko due to that, Kamijou still being injured without her wish, and being the third part of the triangle between her, Kamijou and Hitomi.
    • I think you're mis-reading things. Kyouko and Mami meet with Madoka, but they are not in the later scenes with Homura. Kyouko also pops literally out of nowhere. As far as our "main-line" goes, they are likely still dead (and Sayaka is gone in all lines). Their later appearance is from the world where Mami lost it (note how it's shot). Similarly, Homura is on her own in the "future" world as well. Madoka didn't collapse the multi-verses, she's just in all of them.
      • That's not at all the impression I got from that sequence, given that it specifically comes after the Madoka/Sayaka scene. What that sequence is showing is how Madoka's wish has changed the timeline, since her wish was retroactive, violating cause and effect itself, as Kyubey says. Basically, now instead of becoming Witches, Magical Girls that overuse their power or succumb to Grief simply disappear (Madoka comes and gets them). In addition, Madoka herself no longer exists in reality and anything she has done (other than her wish) no longer has happened. This results in, among other things: Mami is still alive, because Madoka wasn't there to distract her doing her fight and she didn't freeze up against whatever demon she was fighting at the time. Sayaka overuses her power and succumbs to grief for the exact same reasons as in the main timeline, and disappears. Mami even says exactly this in that scene. Since Sayaka died instead of becoming a witch, there was nothing for Kyouko to sacrifice herself for. And since Madoka never existed for Homura to wish to turn back time and save, Homura has new powers in the form of the energy bow. Madoka even gives Sayaka the chance to undo her wish, which would also undo her death, but Sayaka chooses to stay dead because she wants Kamijou's hand to remain healed.
    • Sayaka couldn't have the chance to undo her wish, though, because it had nothing to do with Madoka. None of the girls who turn into witches have the chance to undo their wishes, they simply disappear instead of the alternative. Madoka was giving Sayaka a chance to say goodbye, not to undo anything.
  • On Madoka's finale and Faust. Goethe's Faust (Part 1) ends with Gretchen dead but in heaven. The Little Mermaid ends the same way. Makes sense that Sakaya and Madoka ended up like that while Homura (Faust) lives.
  • Homura indeed pulled a Nice Job Breaking It, Hero in making Madoka a more powerful witch. However, while this wasn't her original intent, Homura still became a savior: by causing the time loop that gave Madoka the opportunity to rethink her wish, she saves everyone.
  • After Episode 12, the scene in the opening where older Madoka transforms younger Madoka makes (a little more) sense. Older Madoka is Goddess-Madoka - she gave Homura her ribbons, and this is the self that defines Madoka as a magical girl.
  • Back when Kyubei's intentions were first revealed, I posted a Just Bugs Me entry about why, if he's trying to maximize efficiency, he didn't just make factory farms. In episode 11, he reveals that the Incubators have been influencing the development of human society since prehistoric times. So what's a city but, well... his form of factory farm?
    • This is taken a step further when you consider Kyubei's speech about meat. He conjures up an image of non-factory farms where animals can graze out in the countryside. It implies that his species sees the ENTIRE WORLD as one big farm, with the "free range" animals being people who live outside cities.
      • This also explains why he only showed Madoka images of free-range cattle as a city-dweller, he sees her as a factory farm animal. Showing those images might hit a little close to home. It's consistent with Kyubei's style of telling the truth but leaving the worst parts out.
  • In episode 9, after explaining his motivations to Madoka and getting blown off, Kyubey leaves with a rather insensitive admonition, "If you ever feel like dying for this universe, just call us." Cue episode 12: Madoka ended up doing exactly that
  • For those who don't get the Incubator reference, this might count as Fridge Brilliance: Incubation is the process in which someone sits on an egg to provide warmth, and thus hatch it. Note how the Soul Gems are egg shaped and become Grief Seeds when enough despair has been put into it. So Kyubey, short for Incubator, warms, or looks over the egg-shaped gems, until they "hatch" into Grief Seeds.
    • Apparently, he still refers to himself as an Incubator in the new world; perhaps the term actually refers more generally to one of the elements of incubation, that is, the trapping of heat in one place; referencing their professed goal of halting entropy.
  • The day of the airing of the final episodes is on Good Friday considering what happened.
  • Before the unpleasantness of what happened to Mami in Episode 3, she said Madoka should just wish for cake if she couldn't think of anything good. Seems harmless and counter to the gravitas of the other wishes/the push from Mami and QB to not take the wishes lightly. Now think back to the concept of equal hope bringing about equal despair and Episode 11, where QB actually explains what makes magical girl potential to Homura. Given that it is predicated on the amount of misfortune the girl is burdened with, as well as the hope brought by said wish, wishing for cake is the best idea under the original system! Due to the circumstances, Madoka could do better, but for any normal would be magical girl, cake is the best choice. Might be Fridge Horror if you think about why QB was so stringent on the girls not making frivolous wishes.
  • It's shown that witch's runes only appear inside of their barrier, and whenever a witch is introduced, it is shown with its name, with the website being updated later. Thus it makes perfect sense to not know Walpurgis Night's name, she never had a barrier in the first place!
  • We never see Homura using a Grief Seed, even though she seems to carry a few of them around (and going by episode 3, she's definitely not giving them to Kyuubey). Seems like Fridge Logic, right? But Homura has infinite magic as long as she believes she can save Madoka. That's why Kyuubey knew her Soul Gem would darken the second she realized she couldn't beat Walpurgis Night. It's pretty much been frozen in time since she made her wish!
    • Expanding on this, why didn't Kyouko turn into a witch after her father's rampage? Because she still believed in him to some extent. And because the despair must be equal to the wish, that's why Sayaka transforms when she knows she can't be with Kyosuke...and why Mami had a Freak-Out in the timeline where Homura told them the truth. She realized that since her wish was pretty much wasted, she would become a witch soon, and she decided it was better to die before that happened.
    • An alternate explanation is that Homura is just super-efficient: She uses conventional weaponry, and her shield uses its own fuel to stop time. She might not need to use any of her soul gem's magic when she fights. She does sometimes use energy attacks, which would explain how she ran low when fighting Walpurgis Night in one of the past timelines — though that could also have been despair creeping in.
      • Let's see... Homura makes a deal with the devil hoping to protect the girl who matters most to her in the world but discovers that USING her powers would bring her closer to her own damnation and resorts to conventional guns and explosives as a loophole. Does that remind you of anything?
  • Notice that Madoka's Soul Gem in episode 12 and the symbol on Kriemhild's Grief Seed in Episode 10 are both shooting stars. If you don't understand, what do people do when they see a shooting star? Make a wish.
  • In episode 11, Kyubey tells Madoka that he doesn't understand why humans get so upset over a single one of their kind dying when there are billions of people in the world. He's not just being callous; due to his Starfish Alien Hive Mind status and inability to feel or comprehend emotions, he literally doesn't understand how the loss of an individual could affect another individual, because to him individuals are just components of a whole. He can't concieve of how it would feel for a human to lose someone they care about, or why they would care about the death of others they've never met.
  • Episode 1 starts with lines which seem nothing but a cruel deception both in and out of universe closer to the end of the series... until you see that they basically describe the ending.

Kyubey (talking to Madoka): "If you give up it will be the end of everything. But you have the capacity to change fate. This unavoidable destruction, this sorrow - you can change it all. That's why you have this power."
Madoka: "Are you telling the truth? Can someone like me really do something to stop this? Can I really prevent everything from turning out this way?"
Kyubey: "Of course you can! Form a contract with me and become a magical girl!"
This is a brilliant Foreshadowing... and even more than that, if you stop for a minute to consider where exactly Madoka dream sequence was cut off, and who among the cast demonstrably can do stuff like broadcasting images into Madoka's head.

    • Moreover, because Homura is still a magical girl despite having made a contract in a separate loop and thus can communicate telepathically with Kyubey, there's nothing stopping him from taking memories of those alternate timelines in HER head and using those as "premonitions" for the other girls. Thus, the worse things get... the easier it is for him to trick the girls into contracts that escalate the conflict one level higher each iteration.
  • Along with the many tropes this series deconstructs, it also deconstructs City of Adventure. Why would the city the main characters live in have so many witches for them to deal with? Because Kyubey's there.
  • Perhaps I'm overthinking it, but why is "Connect" used as the ending in the final episode, and why are the last two episodes missing the dark and scary ending theme? Because Madoka is fixing things for the better--of course the dark ending theme isn't there, and of course it's replaced with a more optimistic song!
  • In episode 12, most people seem to miss that Madoka's wish covers more than the elimination of witches, probably because Kyubey's reaction breaks it up. The second part is perhaps more important than the first: "I don't want any of the girls that have fought witches until now — all the magical girls who believed in hope — to cry. I want them to remain smiling to the end. I'll destroy any rule that stands in my way. I'll change them all. This is my wish, my desire." For this to come true, none of the girls who would have become witches can end in grief and wishes can no longer come with an equal amount of despair. We don't get to see how this changed any backstories, but Sayaka dies a hero, and witch-winged Homura is smiling in the epilogue. The magical girls of the new world are probably best described by Madoka herself when she meets Homura in the space between worlds: We just have to believe. Magical girls make hopes and dreams come true, after all.
  • When Madoka offers Kyouko her hand to shake, Kyouko laughs and instead gives her a candy bar. At first this seems like Kyouko being.. Kyouko but when you consider Kyouko's attitude towards food you will realise that that giving Madoka that candy bar was Kyouko showing Madoka that she had her deepest respect.
  • In a huge tie to The Little Mermaid, Hitomi represents the princess that the prince goes for instead of the mermaid. This explains why she has feelings for him.
    • The meramid's and Sayaka's motivations for making their prospective Deal with the Devil are also inverted. In Anderson's tale, the meramid became human for the prince to fall in love with her in order for her to gain a soul so she could attain eternal salvation in Heaven since mermaids are soulless and undergo Cessation Of Existance when they die. Sayaka became a Magical Girllater, a mermaid witch, giving up her soul (though she was unaware of this at the time)in order for her to attain Kyosouke's love.
  • In Episode 7, Kyouko gives Sayaka advice and tries to get her to see things her way. Sayaka refuses to listen and walks away, causing Kyouko to become extremely pissed off. Why does she get so mad? According to a magazine article she was once a Charm Person who could persuade others to see from her point of view, but lost this ability from the shock of seeing her father go crazy and kill her family. It must be incredibly frustrating for her to have others ignore what she says.
    • In a way, it does work. Although Sayaka rejects Kyouko's ideals, she does understand it.
  • Word of God (as seen here) reveals that Mami's wish was "to connect lives". Why did Mami lie to Madoka and Sayaka about her wish? It made them take the wish more seriously.
    • Actually no. The translation is ambiguous and can be read as "to connect to life" - ie her own.
    • Despite being a mistranslation, the phase "connect lives" can still apply to Mami given her role in the show. She was introduced saving Madoka and Sayaka from a witch. Episode 10 reveals that she along with Madoka saved Homura from a witch in the first timeline. Also she once acted as sempai to Kyoko before the latter became cynical according to the 3rd CD drama. The spinoff Kazumi Magica further expands this by showing that Mami saved Kazumi who would in turn save the other girls who would form the Pleaides Saints and even emulate Mami's attack style and habit of Calling Their Attacks.
  • In the third timeline, why did Mami restrain Homura before shooting Kyouko? Well, along with the Fridge Horror below, Mami probably knows that Homura can't use her abilities if she's being restrained and that said abilities would make it difficult for her to kill the others and herself.
  • We learn at one point that Kyubey's race considers emotion to be a mental disorder. What happened when Madoka declares her wish and Kyubey goes into all-out Villainous Breakdown mode, the only real time we ever see him express more than a superficial amount of emotion? That's right - the full implications of the wish drove him mad. Oh so satisfying!
  • Anyone else noticed that the way the characters interact with food is very telling? Sayaka is only seen taking a few bites here and there but never finishes anything, at one point she even throws uneaten food away. Mami who is a great cook but likes to over embellish the things she makes ect - Kazumi
  • Homura's quote from episode 1: "With kindness comes naïveté. Courage becomes foolhardiness. And dedication has no reward. If you can't accept any of that, you are not fit to be a magical girl."
    • Sayaka was a very kind character, and believed in Black and White Morality for the entirety of her arc, however, this led her to make some very stupid decisions.
    • Mami had so much confidence in her abilities that, when Homura tried to help her, she merely brushed off her advice, leading to her death.
    • Kyoko was very dedicated to her family, and wished that her dad's church would have believers. Her reward? When her dad found out, he called her a witch that manipulated people's minds and killed her entire family, including himself.
  • At the end of episode 3 after defeating Charlotte who'd just killed Mami, Homura states that 'This is the end of a Magical Girl. Cue a shot of a teacup smashed by a Grief Seed symbolizing Mami's death. At first, it simply seems that Homura was refering to how MagicalGirls were bound to die horrible deaths by witches. Until after episode 8 we find out that MagicalGirls who dont purify their Soul Gems become witches. Looking at that scene again, this troper realized that Homura was subtly hinting at the darker nature of the Puella Magi system.

-spinindiamond

  • Kyousuke's song choice (Ave Maria) might be a bit odd, but then you realize that the song was in a short that also had Walpurgis Night as a plot device. In the finale, he plays it after Walpurgisnacht was taken care of, much like how the song was played after Chernabog hid away.
  • Fridge Brilliance/ Actor Allusion, This isn't the first time a Chiwa Saito character has been rescued by a powerful magical girl team with twin-tails, one with a pink theme and the other a yellow theme.
  • Next time you watch the series, check out Madoka's room, particularly the arrangement of stuffed animals and shelves. In episode 9 in particular, during her conversation with Kyubei, the arrangement of the room changes over the course of a single scene. Sloppy animating, or is this conversation taking places repeatedly, identically, in several different timelines?
  • Kyoko explained her wish and the downfall of her family to Sayaka using a little puppet show. In a dark Ironic Echo, she re-enacted the very wish that destroyed her past life in the first place.
  • Just what are the demons from the new universe? Well, when Madoka became a Puella Magi, she created an infinite amount of hope. As has been proved numerous times throughout the series, the amount of hope a Puella Magi makes will be equal to her despair, usually resulting in a witch. But there are no more witches. Madoka's goodness created an equal amount of evil, thus resulting in the demons.
  • Everything that happens in Episode 1 is important. Do not miss any part of it. For example:
    • Madoka's dream: That's the endgame of the fourth time loop that Homura goes through. In Episode 10, you get to see the aftermath.
    • The chairs in Madoka's mother's room: It's a Shout-Out to Bokurano that's eventually echoed in Episode 9, when Kyuubey is revealing more of the Awful Truth.
    • Madoka deciding what ribbons to wear: Madoka's last mortal act is giving them to Homura, who in Episode 10 has been shown to like red headwear.
    • Madoka's mom telling her to act like she has secret admirers: Turns out, the Mysterious Transfer Student Homura is more or less in love with her (Mental Time Travel plays a role).
    • Hitomi's bashfulness over Sayaka teasing Madoka: Hitomi and Sayaka are in love with the same boy. Hitomi's behavior is overcompensating for hoping Sayaka prefers Madoka.
    • Homura re-writing her name on the board: In the first timeline, the teacher didn't write it in Kanji. Homura would like that to stay the same.
    • Homura being good at everything: Not only has she done all of this before at least four times, but she no longer has her heart defect to bother her.
    • The exact timing of Homura and Madoka's walk to the Nurse's office: In the first timeline, Madoka was the one leading Homura. The scenes are perfectly synchronized.
    • Sayaka wondering if Homura gets Moe off of how she treats Madoka: Homura herself used to be quite the moeblob, before the series happened.
    • Sayaka buying CDs for Kamijo. She ends up making her wish to heal his hand (he is a violinist, you see), and later dies for it.
    • Homura using purple energy bolts as an attack. She doesn't want Kyuubey to know what her real abilities are.
    • Homura trying to kill Kyuubey in the first place. In the third timeline, she made a promise to prevent Madoka from becoming a Magical Girl. Killing Kyuubey is like plucking a hair from his head, but he knows that it's much more important to humans, so he uses this as an attempt to get to Madoka right away.
    • The list goes on.
  • In 10 and 11, the ending isn't shown. This is symbolic, implying The End Is Nigh.
  • Homura uses her powers to correct her eyes, despite not having healing powers. How? By changing them in time to a state in the past where she had good eye sight.
  • In the original Japanese title, the styling of the logo makes the first character able to be read as "廃怯" or "wavering" instead of "魔法" or magic, making the title "Hesitant Girl Madoka Magica".
    • Likewise, much like mahou shojo, or magical girls, become majo, or witches, the hesitant girl or hai-kyo shojo will become a haijo, a girl who abolishes.
  • In Episode 7, after having her advice rejected by Sayaka, Kyoko is shown furiously taking bites out of an apple. Now, Kyoko's Berserk Button is wasting food, so she chooses to eat the apple to vent her frustration rather than crush it in her hand, which she would've accomplished given the way she was squeezing it as Sayaka walks away.
    • Related is, in Episode 9, we see her gobbling up lots and lots of food from her apartment[/]hotel room. She already figures she's going to die in the battle, so she's making sure none of her food stores go to waste - note that her fight against Oktavia and the buildup to it are the only scenes in which she's not eating anything.
  • Homura's given name is usually a surname, while her surname is usually a given name. This makes her name sound like it's being spoken in western order and gives her a foreign feel right from the get-go. Turns out, she is a foreigner to this timeline. Likewise, the other characters all have surnames that are usually given names, so they always sound like they're speaking informally to one another even when they're not which is foreshadowing to how close they were/will be in other timelines.
  • Walpurgis Night uses fire attacks and the holiday itself is associated with bonfires. Homura uses military-grade explosives and artillery. It suddenly makes a lot more sense other than just Super Weight for Walpurgis to be completely unfazed by anything Homura does.- g3m1n1

Fridge Horror

  • Compare the original opening to this fan-made video (MAJOR SPOILERS) of, well...Episode 3 in a nutshell. It makes complete sense in context up until...well, you have to see for yourself.
  • It is mentioned that those who die in a witch's barrier leave no bodies behind. Pondering this, it makes you wonder how many people killed by witches were presumed to be missing. Also, consider Magical Girls who turned into witches. Their families and friends think of them as missing and spend the rest of their lives looking of them never realizing that their daughter, sister, etc. has now become an Eldritch Abomination that feasts on humans. That missing 12 year old on the news report whose parents are begging to be found, probably skulking around in an alley sucking human souls and emotions assuming she hasn't been killed by a Magical Girl yet. Wow, the thought's really depressing.
    • It makes perfect sense that the first despair victims of a new witch would be her family. It is much harder for the family of a disappearance victim to wonder what happened to their missing loved one than to learn she was murdered and get closure in time.
      • I'm not sure if you meant family are figuratively or literally victims of the witch, but the latter interpretation makes a lot of sense. Plenty of girls probably succumbed to despair during their civilian life. The people nearest them in that case would most likely be family or close friends, either there to comfort them or inadvertently causing the break...
  • The magical girls? They're powered by Grief Seeds, the life force of the Witches they hunt. Witches that gain said life force by forcing humans to suicide. The Genius Bonus about the writing (both the symbol font from the first episode when translated, and the Faust quotes in the second), too.
  • For those who haven't gotten the fridge horror about Faust references -- Faust is the prototypical story about a guy being tricked into making a Deal with the Devil, who appears to him as a cute animal. Turns out that the Magical Girl contract involves Kyubey removing the girl's soul and moving it into a soul gem.
    • The presence of Faust references actually helped the Western fans to guess a significant portion of the plot ahead of the Japanese viewers.
  • One of the Puella Magi shown in the last episode is suspected to be Anne Frank. She gets saved by Madoka, but what if that didn't happen? Remember why Mami wanted to kill Charlotte? To prevent her from sucking out the life from already weakened people. Now, think of where that girl is going, and how many "weakened people" are going to be there.
  • Magical girls are powered by wishes. Mami comments to Homura on how much talent Madoka has...
  • The scene where we see Mami's shattered tea cup. If you ponder the color and viscosity of the fluid that's also there, and what fell onto the table a moment ago, you'll realize what else you are seeing in that scene.
    • Better yet, it's been confirmed that Charlotte is unable to create cheese. Now what colour is cheese again, and which Puella Magi has that as her theme colour?
  • Episode 6 reveals that a Soul Gem is almost literally Exactly What It Says on the Tin. It contains the soul of the Magical Girl who uses it, turning the girl herself into a lifeless shell that needs the Gem to be animated. When Madoka snatches Sayaka's gem and throws it off the bridge, it safely lands on a truck with a soft canvas over the back. Imagine if it missed.
    • Even worse, imagine if Homura didn't catch up: it could get buried in some foundation, with Sayaka's soul sealed away in stasis forever.
    • To pile on the Fridge Horror, think for a moment what kind of creature you essentially become if your soul is kept in a Soul Jar, and your body becomes a mere "magical meat-puppet". That's right. This is essentially the definition of a Lich - an Undead Sorcerer with its soul contained in a Soul Jar. Also a form in universe Fridge Horror from Kyoko's perspective, though the term Zombie is not exactly the most accurate description of a Puella Magi.
    • A huge Fridge Horror moment when you realize that Madoka NEARLY became a lich for CAKE.
      • But how much despair can be wrought from cake? "I shouldn't have had that second slice" and "Maybe I should have chosen chocolate instead" are as bad as it gets, and that's pretty benign, considering the consequences in this universe.
        • Not entirely true. Word of God has said that Charlotte's wish was '"To eat a cheesecake with her mother before she died"'. Her mother being a cancer patient who cant eat cheese due to chemotherapy. This results in almost instant despair and witchdom when she realizes she could have just wished for her mother to be cured. Now, think about all the opportunities Madoka would have after the hypothetical cake with Mami to really regret eating that cake in lieu of a better wish, the ending for example.
    • I have a question: If the bodies are just empty husks, what happens if a Magical Girl gets another's Soul Gem while they don't have their own? For that matter, what happens if they get a Witch's Grief Seed?
      • Probably nothing. The Soul Gems are likely made so they can only work with a specific body.
    • Another question. Suppose a Magical Girl's body were to be completely destroyed like say incinerated but her Soul Gem were to remain intact. Unless someone destroyed it, then their souls would be trapped within unable to pass onto the afterlife. Furthermore would their consciousness be in stasis or would they still be semi-aware of their surroundings yet unable to move or communicate.
    • Halfway Jossed: Sayaka's first words after re-activation prove that a deactivated Puella Magi is not conscious and aware inside the Soul Gem:

Sayaka: What... happened?

      • It's likely Soul Jars work like batteries. Your toy/clock/remote whatever won't be active without one, and batteries can't really do anything just by being a battery, both parts are pretty useless on their own.
  • Familiars do not drop grief seeds and there's not a lot of witches, so magical girls sometimes need to let familiars kill people and turn into witches in order to get their grief seed.
    • That's not really fridge horror, though given that Kyoko admits to doing this
  • So, it turns out that Kyoko's father killed his family, then committed suicide because he realized that people listened to him because of magic rather than because they wanted to listen to him, meaning that Kyoko is now completely alone... Wait a minute... Mami is also alone because her parents died in a car crash even before she made her contract... And we know nothing about Homura, but she surely looks like a loner... Oh god there is a pattern! Puella Magi's loved ones end up dying sooner or later! SAYAAAAAKAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
  • Episode 8: Confirms that Witches are fallen Puella Magi. Sayaka becomes one by effectively committing mahou-suicide and not purifying her soul gem, at all. Combine that with the implications that destroying Witches to cleanse your gem will net a profit (at any rate, this seems to work for Kyoko), that effectively means that the only way for a Soul Gem to corrupt to a Grief Seed is for the Puella to let it happen. In other words, every fallen Witch has gone through the same level of trauma, pain and suffering that Sayaka did. How many Witches have we seen so far? Yep.
    • In fairness, they could have been familiars who grew into witches...but they likely still originated from a fallen magical girl. Cloning Blues, perhaps?
      • Don't forget, it's been stated that familiars have to kill someone (possibly consume their soul?) to become full Witches...
    • Grief Seeds are souls. Kyubey consumes Grief Seeds. And I Must Scream.
      • Even better: Grief Seeds are lost souls. This makes Kyubey even MORE satanic.
    • I think you ignored one important detail: You can net a profit killing a witch if you're an experienced witch killer. If you're inexperienced, alone and with no grief seeds to your name, good luck even winning your first fight... or figuring out how to track them down... or getting it through your head that you need to save your strength for a witch rather than waste it on familiars... I bet most never even make it to their first kill.
  • Even more vicious when you realize that Mami's death could be considered an unintentional Mercy Kill. Since becoming a witch is Fate Worse Than Death.
    • This hits home even harder considering how Mami reacted to learning about the nature of Soul Gems. By trying to kill everyone else.
    • which makes Kyubey's line about Mami never finding out the nature of Soul Gems Harsher in Hindsight.
  • Episode 8 we have the following exchange between Kyoko and Homura

Homura: Walpurgis Night will begin here (pointing to a location on the map)
Kyoko: How do you know?
Homura: Statistics.

    • How many time loops do you have to experience to form STATISTICS??
      • Perhaps 15,532 times?
      • Apparently only four.
        • That have been SHOWN in the anime/manga... she might have gone through more.
        • The spin-off series Oriko Magica appears to be an example of a timeline that wasnt in the anime.
    • Rika would be proud. Say, didn't Rika create a witch because of that? That's some Fridge Horror in and of itself...
  • Episode 7. Sayaka's breakdown. Elsa Maria's silhouette looks like Hitomi... Fortunately Jossed; Elsa isn't Hitomi. She's purely human.
    • Alternatively, the symbolism surrounding Elsa Maria is very Christian-like, specially in regards to prayer and roots. Kyoko had a younger sister, Momo, who shared her suffering. She was seen praying in Kyoko's flashback, and there were root-like trees in the background. What if Momo went through the same and ended up as a Magical Girl too?
    • I think Kyoko would know if Momo was a Magical Girl. After all, who thought that she just discovered her family's suicide/murder and wasn't there herself?
    • Ahh, but due to the nature of Soul Gems Momo's body could have been in horrible condition, could not have been breathing, yet it doesn't mean the girl died.
    • Has it been specified HOW Kyoko's father murdered the family? If Momo became a Magical Girl too, maybe it was similar to how Mami was recruited, while on the brink of death. We don't really know much of the specifics to really say it could or couldn't happen, but it's still possible.
  • After Homu-Homu shoots the hell out of of QB, QB returns in another copy and eats his own corpse. You would think this was done just to emphasize the creepiness, but fridge horror hits when you realize QB wants to obtain and conserve as much energy as possible to the point of eating himself as to not waste energy.
    • Another Fridge Brilliance in that scene: QB appears completely black save for the creepy red eyes. He won't even let light escape his being, QB is a black hole that sucks everything in.
  • Familiars become Witches themselves after consuming people. Homura already knew that Charlotte was different from what Mami was used to, and how to defeat her... implying that she had faced at least one Charlotte before (though this may be explained away through time-travel and loops.) How can we be sure that there aren't any more Charlottes, Elsas, et al lurking around?
    • Homura most likely knew how to defeat Charlotte due to having traveled through time. But yes; Familiars mature into Witches identical to the one they "budded" from. Multiple Charlottes is a very realistic notion.
  • Kyubey's explanation in episode 9. There's an entire SPECIES of those things. On. Our. PLANET.
  • Walpurgis, the greatest of known witches, who has Walpurgisnacht named after her, can be practically one-shot by Madoka, or so Kyubey claims. And what happens after that? Madoka herself will become the greatest of witches, and will perpetuate the circle of destruction with even more horror, ad infinitum. Unless she shatters her Soul Gem first.
    • But if she does shatter her soul gem and commit suicide... Homura will freak and bring that much more despair into the NEXT loop. And makes things WORSE the following iteration.
  • The interaction of Puella Magi and Witches with their feeding habits is a long-established system. Now, think about how the first witches came into existence. That's right, most likely Kyubey's kin created them, or Puella Magi that matured into them, without providing anything to keep corruption at bay. Just like that.
  • Episode 10 reveals that the trigger condition for the world to be restarted is Homura failing to protect Madoka. This means there is no easy way out of this for Homura, she can't simply kill Madoka to prevent her from becoming a witch. She actually tried that. YMMV, this can be a Fridge Heartwarming...
    • Also, if you look carefully in episode 10, you'll notice that Madoka is getting stronger through each successive timeline. In the first few timelines, she is killed trying to defeat Walpurgis Night, then transitions to her using up too much power and becoming a witch herself, and then finally to her ONE SHOTTING Walpurgis Night. In the current timeline, she shows signs of being able to recall Homura and the events in past timelines. Perhaps this was the potential that Kyubey was talking about?
    • Even more Fridge Horror. What if Homura is the one making Madoka stronger each time she goes back? She would be dooming Madoka, because the more powerful she is, the more Kyubey will want her, and the less of a chance she'll have at actually protecting her.
      • No longer Fridge Horror, but actual canon. Kudos to the above troper for coming up with the theory months before it was shown in the series.
    • Could just be situational though. First time she fights with Mami, then Mami and an inexperienced Homura, then a battle-hardened Homura. The fourth timeline's obviously situational because she wished for power, probably for the power to kill WPN. Also note that Madoka survives to corrupt into a witch in all but the first timeline, but Homura cuts her off in the third.
  • In the fourth timeline of Episode 10, Homura decides to handle everything by herself. In her monologue, she revealed she killed all the witches, except for Walpurgisnacht. In that timeline's Walpurgisnacht, only two people remain: Madoka and Homura. What happened to the other Magic Girls? Homura killed them too, to make sure none of them mature into witches.
    • It's highly doubtful that she really managed to get all the witches.
      • Uh, what part of Homura's ability to time-stop did you miss? Especially if you subscribe to the theory that the four timelines shown aren't the only ones, Homura could easily track down and kill all of them in a single night if it weren't for the whole "humans (even liches) need sleep" thing...
    • This explains why Oriko, Kirika, and Yuma are absent. But then think about that for a bit. Homura killed an eight-year-old, just because she was involved in Oriko's plans. Multiple times even. And to think Kyubey was the evil one...
      • Actually, if Homura was willing to kill, all she'd have to do is kill Oriko. Kirika and Yuma wouldn't become magical girls otherwise if not for her.
        • Actually, not only is it impossible to prove whether Homura killed them or if they died in battle, but a wish like know the meaning of my life could have thousands of different meanings and consequences. Also, Homura repeatedly states Oriko's timeline was full of irregularities.
  • In episode 6, Homura approaches Kyoko and tells her that she wants Sayaka to be removed quietly, that Kyoko should do nothing, and that she'll handle it. What was Homura's plan that never happened (at least not quietly) because of Kyoko's impatience? Let Sayaka turn into a witch and then kill her.
    • More likely, she planned on convincing Sayaka to stay out of Kyoko's way since she knows if Sayaka were to get caught in another fight, Madoka would try to contract to help her friend. If Homura planned on killing her as a witch, then she wouldnt have tried to offer her a Grief Seed when her Soul Gem was getting too dark. Once it became apparent that Sayaka wasnt going to clean her gem, Homura decided to kill her to spare Madoka any more pain of watching her friend suffer.
  • One of the Episode 10 Witches is apparently based off school uniforms. Thanks to the tone of episode (at that point in time), it looks pretty damn ridiculous, but when you stop to think about it...
    • Original Witches (non-familiar spawned copies) are grown out of fallen Puella Magi, usually due to them falling to despair about life.
    • Witches always have some way of stealing the souls of those who enter their Labyrinth; be it eating them (Charlotte), dragging them into themselves (Elsa Maria) or more exotic methods (such as Oktavia, for instance, who steals souls via her music). Up this Witch's skirt appears to be some sort of infinite orifice.
    • Given the uniforms, the above fact that witches originate from young girls, take note of the odd position the Witch appears to be in... and realise you're probably looking at a Puella Magi who fell to despair and turned into a Witch because of sexual abuse. Still finding that sequence funny?
      • Someone thought that was funny? It's a freaking monster made of arms!
      • To make things even worse, remember how Homura killed her... by throwing a bomb up Patricia's skirt.
  • In an early episode, Kyubey suggests to Sayaka that she can get stronger by collecting more grief seeds. Seems like nothing to be concerned about, until you watch episode 10 In which an alternate timeline Madoka was able to one-shot the witch of Walpurgis Night. We don't see the details of what happened before then, but it can be assumed that she became a witch immediately after that fight. If that's the case than one can assume that the stronger a Puella Magi's magic gets, the faster their soul gem corrupts, so it's only a matter of time before they become witches themselves.
    • Or it doesn't matter. A previous time loop show that it's nigh impossible for Madoka to defeat WPM without nearly fully corrupting her stone no matter how much stronger she gets. Although her gem was destroyed by WPM in the first one, and Homura helped her in the third one. Plus, Kyoko had more magic power than either Homura or Mami and she was far from corruption than any of the girls in the show.
  • Each mahou shoujo's wish comes with a curse to balance it...and Mami wished to live.
  • In episode 10, Kyubei mentions meeting his quota for this planet. This would imply that Kyubei's species is working on other planets, with other species. What if Walpurgisnacht's already happened on other worlds? What if a witch can send familiars out to other planets? Has Kyubei's kind unintentionally created something on the level of Lavos?
    • Wait a minute... If something is destroyed, then all its heat is released; not much to contain it anymore, after all. The Incubators got their anti-entropy, but only through dooming worlds to individually suffer absolute entropy. The net result looks more like anti-entropic energy gained, but effectively nulled by the world location's entropy skyrocketing.
    • Which actually makes a certain amount of sense. The Incubators don't care about what happens to any other species or planet; all they want is to be able to maintain their own place in the universe indefinitely. In fact, given their lack of emotions, it's very possible that they're unable to empathize -- they don't care because they can't care.
    • Also, what do you mean 'unintentionally?'
  • Witches have to come from somewhere, if there's to be Magical Girls to "harvest" their Seeds. While the story focuses itself on Madoka's tight inner group, for all we know there are many other Magical Girls elsewhere in the city, the country, the world, all of them eventually turning into Witches... Just what exactly is Kyubey up to when he's not on camera? How many contracts has he made that we're not aware of? Maybe he's approaching the girl next to you right now...
  • Entropy. Kyubey kind of fudges the explanation in order to simplify it for Madoka, but the concept is very real. While there are at least a dozen ways for the universe to end before that, according to everything we've learned until now, entropy is what will eventually and inevitably do us in, even if all else fails. So, unless we can hop over to another universe - one with less sucky laws of thermodynamics preferably - we're all screwed in the long run.
    • As of December 2011, Wikipedia on entropy states: "The role of entropy in cosmology remains a controversial subject. Recent work has cast some doubt on the heat death hypothesis and the applicability of any simple thermodynamic model to the universe in general. Although entropy does increase in the model of an expanding universe, the maximum possible entropy rises much more rapidly, moving the universe further from the heat death with time, not closer."
  • People are complaining about Kyubey having facial expressions in the manga, arguing that the reason Kyubey is so scary is because of his Frozen Face showing his Lack of Empathy. On the other hand, being able to show facial expressions makes Kyubey's job easier. After all, a girl might be wary of a creature whose face never changes. Kyubey's inability to feel emotions probably hasn't changed. Now he just knows how to fake them.
    • I thought it was more of a pragmatic thing. A lot of the impact of his (lack of) tone of voice and absolutely still expression (even most characters with a Frozen Face move their mouth when they talk) is lost in the transition to a print medium. As mentioned earlier under Fridge Brilliance, he tends to look much cuter in still screenshots than he actually does in context, so the manga had to try to compensate for that.
  • Episode 11 Kyubey states that "emotion is a mental disorder on our world." Individuality Is Illegal on the Incubators' homeworld, so not only are there probably thousands of fully sentient Incubators trapped in asylums for "feeling", but the Incubators as a whole will never evolve emotion and thus have to keep leeching off the despair of other worlds.
    • Actually it's also very likely that they're leeching off the despair of their own mentally ill. /人◕ ‿‿ ◕人\
  • Remember that one familiar Kyoko let escape in episode 5? The childlike scribble playing with hundreds of rubber balls? The official website labels her Anja, a minion of the witch Albertine, whose ability is...transforming humans into rubber balls. And making them bounce for every lie they've told in their lives. How long can someone survive being bashed against the ground like that? How many people died because Anja escaped, just so Kyoko could get a Grief Seed?
    • It Got Worse. Anja attacked Sayaka using the rubber balls, and Sayaka cut them in half.
  • According to her witch card, due to Kriemheld Gretchen's goal of ridding the world of misfortune, "The only way to defeat this witch is to make the world free of misfortune. If there's no grief in this world, she will believe this world is already a heaven." The only plausible way to do this is to make a wish to that effect... but Kyubey, if he even knows this would work, is not allowed to suggest wishes. He couldn't stop her even if he wanted.
    • Even worse, what if Madoka did wish for that? After all, Kriemheld Gretchen created a world with no misfortune, no grief . . . and no people.
  • During the fight with Oktavia von Seckendorff, a sort of melting shadow appears. Is that what's left of her soul trapped inside, being corroded by the despair of a witch?
  • In nearly every timeline Mami seems destined to lose her head. Either figuratively (by snapping) or literally (by becoming dessert).
  • Fridge Depressing, maybe. Why is Homura becoming so cold and standoffish, even to Madoka, after repeating the timeline? It's because Madoka's lack of confidence reminds Homura of her old self, from the first time she failed to save Madoka's life.
  • More Fridge Depressing: It has been established by Word of God that in every single timeline, Sayaka is doomed to contract and become a Witch. No matter what. That's right--Sayaka is unable to be saved. She is completely and utterly doomed.
    • The finale gives it a whole new meaning to that exact phrase.
  • When a Magical Girl's Soul Gem shatters, she dies, and her body detransforms almost immediately. However, in Episode 3, it takes a small while for Mami's body to detransform after she's getting her head chewed off by Charlotte. Meaning, she was still ALIVE and possibly CONSCIOUS for a few instants while this happened! Brr.
  • So you think the ending is all fine and dandy with everyone happy, right? Well, here's the things that didn't get fixed from the old world. (Shouldn't add anything bad to the Already Bad World, but just so you remember this is still Puella Magi Madoka Magica we're talking:
    • Kyouko's father still went suicidal and killed her family.
    • Soul Gems are still Soul Jars.
    • Magical girls are still prone to disagreements, anger, etc. For instance, Sayaka and Kyouko still fought.
    • The death rate is still probably high.
    • Becoming a witch is no longer inevitable...however, that means disappearing is.
      • Disappearing is basically the same as dying, however. Which is inevitable for everyone, including nonmagical girls.
        • Even in the new world, becoming a Magical Girl dooms a girl to a violent and probably short life. I hope that wish was worth it...
          • Although, given Madoka's strong feelings about the way contracts in the past were made, it's very likely that the Incubators of the new system won't force as many girls into unfair contracts (such as Kyuubey waiting for Mami to be in the car crash, or setting up Kyoko's Heroic Sacrifice to manipulate Madoka). And given that Madoka, being an omniscient embodiment of hope, spoke with Sayaka- and probably Mami and Kyoko- about whether or not she wanted to undo the contract and come back to life, she can probably do the same for all the other Puella Magi so that they'll be happiest in the end. In fact, she probably lets them know exactly what they're getting into. It may not be easy, but if that's what they wish for more than anything else, she's going to help them do it.
            • It is almost entirely a sure fact that Madoka is not Omniscient, she didn't wish to be the Christian god, and whether you have faith in him or not, it's probably a good thing. Since every incompatibility from wishes results in distortion, the contradictory omni everything classical god would probably not work. In short It's likely Madoka's only supreme capability is omni-presence, And witch busting.
            • Does Madoka consciously give the magical girls a choice to come back or not? I was under the impression Sayaka died either way in the new world and Madoka was just picking her up for the ride to a better place; due to the circumstances of Madoka and witches not being around, Mami and Kyouko just survived. This of course still doesn't rule out the chance that Madoka talks to all of the magical girls pre-contract, though I can still rather clearly imagine Kyubey offering Mami the contract in the car crash just fine; Mami's statement about the inevitability of death for magical girls seems like she still suffers through loneliness.
              • Nope. They die/disappear after Madoka wishes the Soul Gem away.
              • They might also go to a heaven, In the manga, it's depicted more along this manner.
              • Word of God confirms that there is a new universe that Madoka takes the souls of dead Magical Girls to so Cessation Of Existance is not a problem for them. Right before disappearing Madoka tells Homura that she is going to meet everyone presumably those girls that have ascended to her heaven.
    • Demons everywhere!
    • On a happier note, the girls now have a higher chance of living because under the new system it's beneficial for them to team up. Since Kyubey now eats Grief directly from their gems, the girls don't have to compete for Grief Seeds and it makes sense for them to stick around with him.
      • No, he doesn't. Homura is seen cleansing her gem with strange cubes, likely those from the demons.
  • It is heavily implied that Homura is about to die after the Credits. First we see her with white wings, then after the Ending with Witch-Barrier like wings. Also she is hearing Madoka's Voice, suggesting that Madoka will have to prevent the birth of a Witch again.
  • When Kyubey tells Madoka about humans and cattle. We're not so different from the incubators, possibly worse because they actually give girls a choice (Mami didn't have to choose to live). Are the incubators more humane than we are? Magical Girls die for a bigger cause than cattle dying for a day's dinner. Almost makes you feel guilty about hating the little critter.
    • While this is mostly true, we're hardly worse, the problem in this case is our emotions and empathy are imperfect, so Cows etc are not often granted the same level of value or emotional investment as other humans, so in a way, it's not that incubators are more human, it's that when it comes to food, humans are like incubators.
  • Take a close look at Mami's thighs during the HEADCHOMP scenes and you'll see what appears to be liquid staining her stockings. Blood right? Nope. People void their bladders and bowels when they die.
    • Actually, nothing runs down there. You might be thinking of the infamous Chidamari Sketch fanmade video, which artificially adds the running urine to "fix" that detail the anime didn't have. Thanks a lot, guys..
  • So Kazuko says that Hitomi feels bad about Sayaka's 'death'. What did Hitomi do right before that? Confess to Kyosuke, of course. The girl probably believes she accidentally drove Sayaka to suicide by doing that.
    • Worse, when you consider that her confessing to Kyosuke was the accidental catalyst for the already very deep-in-shit Sayaka's transformation into a witch.
  • The Manga's changes show some unsettling ideas. For one, look at the scene where Sayaka attacks Hitomi and Kyousuke. Consider that one, the author of the manga supports the theory that Sayaka killed those two men in the train, and two, you never see Kyousuke and Hitomi until the new timeline.
    • Oh, and no funeral scene would mean that in the Mangaverse, Weekend At Sayaka's is possible.
    • Another disturbing scene occurs when Homura is fighting against Walpurgisnacht and gets attacked by three familiars that take the shapes of Mami, Kyouko, and Sayaka. When you consider that Walpurginacht is an amalagation of the spirits of dead MagicalGirls, its possible that those werent familiars but the three other main characters under the control of Walpurgisnacht. To add to that nightnarish scenario, remember that Madoka also fought against the same witch in other timelines and may have also been treated to the same experience.
  • Kyouko's last moments in Episode 10. Mami, the Magical Girls' parental figure, finds out everything she believed in is a lie and tries to commit triple murder-suicide in a fit of madness. Which incident from Kyouko's past does that sound like? So basically, Kyouko dies going through the worst thing that ever happened to her all over again.
    • Worse. The Pater Familicide incident could be why Mami targeted Kyouko first -- so she wouldn't have to witness a similar event again and why she didnt go after Homura first or the other long range fighter Madoka. Considering the third Drama CD, which reveals Mami and Kyouko's common past and tells things that happen quite a while before Homura starts the time jumps and time changing... it's very likely.
  • So according to Kyubey, putting too much corruption into a Grief Seed can revive a witch which is why he eats used up Grief Seeds. This is bad enough in that it means Puella Magi have to continually battle witches to keep The Corruption at bay with new Grief Seeds but think about what this means for witchturned!Puella Magi. Since the Soul Gems are the girls' Soul Jar and they can only be killed if the gems are destroyed and Grief Seeds are fully corrupted Soul Gems then defeating a witch doesnt kill it but only puts it into hibernation since the Grief Seed hosting the former Puella Magi's soul is still intact. In other words, The girl is still doomed to live out the days of her unlife as a witch unable to pass on. The only true way to end the girls' curse is to destroy the Soul Gem or Grief Seed. Kyubey, true to his nature of preserving resources could be collecting Grief Seeds to revive them later as foes for new contracts as well as prevent any Puella Magi aware of the Awful Truth from destroying them. For proof, consider the scene in ep 12 where Madoka ascends to godhood and meets up with Mami and Kyouko in some sort of limbo yet surprisingly Sayaka is absent. You'd think that Madoka's own best friend would be there to greet her until you remember that she died as a witch and her soul is probably still trapped in a Grief Seed.
  • Listen to the song "Nux Walpurgis" from OST volume 3. While it plays in episode 11, Homura's gem is corrupting, but Madoka stops the process. But in the OST there is a longer version, and it perfectly fits the Homura transformation into witch.
  • When Kyoko's father went nuts, he must have gone after Kyoko and killed her first, otherwise her Puella Magi would have allowed her to restrain him. With either multiple bullet or stab wounds to disable her (it's not made clear which way it happened) but her soul gem preventing her from dying, Kyoko would be conscious but unable to move as she witnessed her father killing the rest of her family. And I Must Scream.
  • Right after Mami's death, a distressed Madoka asks how many people Homura has seen die. Homura pauses, then says that she's seen more deaths than she could count. Considering the four main characters that are not Homura die every time loop, about a quarter of these "countless" deaths would have been Madoka herself.
  • The bizarre creatures at the end of the first episode (flying scissors and everything) say things like "Let's just cut them off" and "We present the roses to our queen" in their weird, screechy voices. Now think of what would've happened if Mami hadn't been there to save them.]]
  • Seems like a lot of witches or their minions like to eat or mutilate corpses. That means many witches or their minions probably ate the corpses of their own human forms.
    • Which even has precedence, considering Kyuubey also eats his own corpse, and the witch/magical girl system is the creation of the Incubators.
  • In episode three how does Homura know Mami is dead? Her ribbon she bound Homura with disapeared. Homura probably recognised this from the timeline where Mami found out that Magical Girls turn into witches and she bound Homura in the same way before killing Kyoko and almost killing Madoka and Homura.
  • I kind of wondered why Hitomi, arguably one of the most happiest girls in the show, got a witch's kiss so easily. Doesn't having a witch's kiss mean that you were depressed enough to be vulnerable to it, or at least have depressing thoughts? But then I remembered that Kyousuke's hand was healed in the same episode, the episode that Sayaka became a magical girl. Considering that Hitomi wanted Sayaka to confess to Kyousuke first, did she somehow hear about Kyousuke getting better (maybe from Sayaka herself before she saved the day?) and, not only thought about but feared of the consequences of the Love Triangle, thinking it would harm their friendship? Given how she decided that Sayaka should take the initiative when she got better, probably because she wanted her friend to be happy, what was she planning originally? Was she thinking that if she 'got out of the way', her friend could have their crush all to herself and then everybody would be happy...?
  • In one of the alternate timelines in Episode 10, Mami tries to commit triple murder-suicide after finding out the fate of a Puella Magi and starts by attacking Kyouko first, by destroying her Soul Gem. This implies that Mami in that timeline knew that Puella Magi were the equivalent of liches.
  • A girl who wins a fight but gets a serious injury may be already dead. Her fighting ability is severely downgraded, lowering the ceiling on the strength of witches she can fight. She'll use up more power compensating. If another girl is interested in her territory, they'll lunge at the opportunity. If the injury is serious enough, she may be forced to get medical treatment. And imagine if she's trying to keep a civilian life! "No big deal, Mom and Dad, I just tripped and ripped my arm off." This logic applies to a lot of settings, but it seems more depressing for this one; imagine the terror and mounting desperation of a prepubescent or teenage girl as these consequences hit her. Now imagine the effect it has on her soul gem.

Fridge Logic

  • Wait a second, just realized:

Magical Girl or not, one would assume that Cleopatra still seduced Mark Anthony and produced Caesarion, Alexander Helios, Cleopatra the Second and Ptomley the 16th. Now, as we all know, becoming a Magical Girl turns you a corpse. So even though she could most certainly have sex (sucks to be the accidental necrophile, eh Anthony?), how in the name of Madoka would Cleopatra be able to give birth to ONE, much less FOUR children when her body is incapable of sustaining and producing life anymore?

    • Who said anything about not being able to produce life? All that was stated about the Magical Girls was that they're liches.
  • Why didn't any of the girls think of using their wishes to resurrect or warping realities to something like "Erase negative emotions forever for everyone" or simply asking for a thousand more wishes. But then again that would remove any conflicts in the story and we wouldn't have this awesome show we are watching now. But QB wouldn't agree to it anyway.
    • Episode 12 shows that he can't actually refuse to grant a wish as Madoka essentially wishes for Witches to have never existed. He doesn't like it, but he's unable to actually tell her she can't do that. All he can do is point out the potential consequences.
    • Additionally, your magic has to be strong enough to grant the wish. Madoka was essentially powerful enough to get away with a wish to rewrite reality.
  • With recent revelations in Episode 8, one has to wonder the following: Where did Charlotte's Grief Seed in episode 3 come from?
    • Charlotte lost/discarded her Soul Gem in that area, and it built up negativity over time?
    • Alternatively, maybe the Grief Seed was disposed of there after another Puella Magi learned the Awful Truth, but had absorbed just enough of The Corruption to reform into a witch?
    • Maybe Kyubey put it there? Incorporating the WMG "It was all part of Kyubey's plan for Mami to die", The whole thing may have been a setup to force Madoka into a position where she had no other choice but to become a magical girl.
    • We know that familiar separated from original witch can grow grief seed of their own and become witches themselves. Maybe in the transition process, there's dormant stage, when new grief seed accumulates negativity to power familiar's new form.
    • A common theory holds that Charlotte was hospitalized, and that her wish was to be able to eat all the sweets she couldn't on her patient's diet. If she became a witch in the hospital, then naturally it would appear there.
    • Sayaka/Oktavia von Seckendorff, as well as the witch Mami tracked down in episode 2, show that Witches can 'relocate' their mazes. For all we know, it's possible that once a witch has drained an area, it turns back into a Grief Seed, transports somewhere else, sits dormant for a while, and then hatches after absorbing enough grief from the area.
  • Okay, so as of Episode 10 we know that Homura was sent back in time each time she fails to protect Madoka as per her wish. Now what's interesting is that she starts the new time line with her Puella Magi powers. So what would happen if she eventually snapped under the pressure of continuously trying and failing to save Madoka, and became a witch? Also, if she remained a witch through further time loops this would permanently lock her out of fulfilling her wish. What some sort of time paradox would result from THAT?
    • Her wish would most likely be voided, since witches are technically no longer magical girls and are no longer bound by the contract. Plus, it's the contraption on her arm that allows her to time travel, so either she loses it when she transforms, or the even worse alternative that we get a time traveling witch.
      • A time-traveling witch?
      • And Walpurgisnacht is speculated to be Homura, and it does make sence considering that for as long as witches exist, if she were to stay in one reality for long enough, she would change into a witch. And since Walpurgisnacht always arrives on the time of Walpurgisnacht, which is Homura's time of real despair, I wouldn't be surprised if this were true.
  • So, why is Kyubey surprised to learn that Homura is time-traveling? And why doesn't he take any action to stop her from saving Madoka? He/They are the only things that give the girls their power he just doesn't remember it, so it shouldn't be hard for him to figure out that she's from the future.
    • The only power she habitually displays is stopping time, and before the reveal that could've simply been believed to be a teleportation-based power -- she does have a Hammerspace buckler, after all -- the time travel only comes up at a point wherein after its use no one else is going to remember it anyway. Also, remember that what wish a Puella Magi made is a key aspect that informs some of their powers. Without knowing what she wished for it's harder to extrapolate what she can do. Besides, he's done plenty to stop her from saving Madoka -- he's put Homura in a Morton's Fork by letting Kyoko think she could save Sayaka and consequently sacrificing herself to help Homura escape with Madoka. Now either Homura faces down Walpurgis on her own -- when that worked so well the last time -- or she lets Madoka form a contract with Kyubey. And there is nothing about the former that actually prevents the latter.
      • Woah, I totally forgot about the Morton's Fork - my bad. But in previous timelines, he must must have seen Homura use her time-stop powers to place bombs and stuff, assuming Kyubey follewed them around like he sometimes did in the current timeline. I guess I assumed he would put two and two together (no memory of making her a Puella Magi and time related powers) and instead of being shocked, he'd be all, "Go ahead and try again, see how it works out for you. You'll become a witch eventually". Of course, he might have been bluffing, and this is another part of his horrible scheme.
        • Well, again, time-related is not an assumed given -- from an outside perspective there's very little difference between Time Stands Still and teleportation powers. And before Episode 8 I don't think he really had as much solid evidence to go on; she'd been fairly careful about not mentioning the other timeline, and most of his previous interactions with her didn't exactly put him in a prime position to observe, what with him running or her keeping a low profile.
      • Why would Kyubey want to stop her? The more powerful the Puella Magi the more powerful their witch. He may very well see it as Homura looping again and again, getting stronger each time until finally she falls into despair at the futility of it after too many failures, at this time she is unusually powerful, mmm, delicious witch energy. So long as he thinks she'll never succeed it's actually beneficial for him if she keeps looping.
      • Homura's looping also made Madoka stronger if I'm understanding this right.
      • Short answer: An early reveal that Homura is a time traveler would weaken the impact of episode 10's development of her characterization.
        • Long answer: Even if Kyubey realized Homura's ability was a Time Stop and the implication that her wish would logically relate to time travel, it would be impossible to prove. Instead of plans specific to that possibility, Kyubey concentrated on ones guaranteeing that stopping the Walpurgisnacht was impossible unless Madoka contracted. It can also be inferred that even if he wanted to stop Homura, direct confrontation falls between undesirable and impossible. Killing Homura would reduce the amount of energy Kyubey could harvest but, having shown no offensive ability precludes option entirely. Additionally, there is no evidence he could affect her magic in order to stop Homura; meaning even if he could physically prevent her interference temporarily, once she could no longer change Madoka's fate, Houmra would simple hit reset. By having Kyoko remove her self and informing Homura that each time she traveled back to save Madoka increased how much despair she was destined to bear, Kyubey chose an opition that should have been checkmate. Unable to beat the Walpurgisnacht Homura would either hit reset increasing his energy gain from Madoka, or unwilling to cause her to suffering grow, Homura would lose hope and become a Witch.
          • Long answer bonus: the more times Homura hits reset to try and do something different, the more despair she accumulates and carries off to the next loop, making the situation harder to beat and creating MORE energy, more despair, and requiring Madoka's wish to be ever BIGGER in scope to try and reverse it, making an even greater endgame Earthshattering Kaboom as its ultimate conclusion. The only way out of this was Kyubey's inability to foresee final loop Madoka's Rules Lawyer wish making her absorb ALL the despair in the universe and saving HERSELF from becoming a universe obliterating force into a paradox so massive it forced the ENTIRE UNIVERSE into a Heroic BSOD and forcing a reboot with a new rule: NO WITCHES ALLOWED.
  • So now that the episode 10 witch cards are out, it seems that alternate!Oktavia's barrier is based around guitar and not violin. That makes very little sense.
    • Maybe in that timeline she made a different wish?
    • Or Kyosuke played the guitar in that timeline.
    • But the backup dancers were all based on Hitomi while the orchestra was full of... Oh. Oh. Are you trying to say something, Urobuchi?
      • Or it was alternate!Oktavia's way of screwing over the person who screwed her over, so to speak. Apparently, Hitomi wins in every timeline and alternate!Oktavia would prefer if she dance in the background, unimportant, while she takes center stage.
      • Most likely, considering Oktavia's Madness Mantra: "LOOK AT ME!"
  • The whole "Entropy is lowering the amount of energy in the universe so we're tormenting little girls to make more" thing, while holding the plot reasonably well and functioning as an artistic subversion of the usual "power of love" or "harvesting energy" angles many Magical Girl series rely on.... is STILL a complete and utter load, simply because neither matter nor energy can be destroyed. The amount lost during conversion from one state to another doesn't just vanish, it simply isn't converted to the same state. What Kyuubey's doing is somehow adding more energy to the equation. Whether that would be a bad thing or a good thing notwithstanding, it's a bit jarring to hear that his race can warp reality but it can't understand basic physical laws.
    • What the magic is doing is healing the universe; the inevitable increase in entropy is rotting it. Energy is changing form without overall increasing or decreasing, as outlined by the First Law of Thermodynamics (Equivalent Exchange); according the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Entropy), it will never be a 100% perfect conversion into work, with some energy changing from being localized to randomly dispersed (mostly as heat). It might make more sense if you replace "the universe is losing energy" with "the universe is ageing/decaying/degenerating until it becomes too old and inefficient to sustain life" (which is pretty much what the Heat Death is about), and "adding more energy" with "the souls of magical girls (who can of course symbolize youth and fertility) reverse the process of energy decay, returning energy to a better, less entropic form, and provide some sort of Philosopher's Stone for this universe in order to rejuvenate itself". Finally, the laws of Thermodynamics don't matter too much, because Magic could break whatever natural laws it wanted, which is why it's so valuable. It's basically Spiral Power.
        • It may be a bit of Fridge Horror, but isn't the Kyubeians' plan eventually leading up to the Spiral Nemesis? That was the first thing I thought of with the whole entropy speech.

Kyumina: "Go beyond the impossible and kick entropy to the curb! That's the Puella Magi way!"

    • Incubators are basically how Anti-Spirals would behave if the end of the universe involved Heat Death instead of a Big Crunch. By the way, both entities' agenda for saving the universe involve putting humans into absolute despair (in TTGL despair restricts Spiral Power, in PMMM despair enhances Magical Power).
    • Well, if they can warp reality, why would they need to understand basic physical laws? Though the explanation above is probably far closer to canon.
    • Eh, his explanation was likely dumbed down for Madoka. Enough to probably hide more truths.
    • Or maybe they needed to understand basic physical laws precisely for explaining it to us humans. Which makes sense since Kyubey's explanation could have come from a guy who just skimmed through a physics textbook; the gist is there, but it's not quite right.
    • The most likely theory is that the magic is capable of breaking the laws of thermodynamics, and Kyubey's Magical Girl system is simply the most efficient way to generate energy. I'm pretty sure that even Kyubey isn't sure how the magic works, but I don't think he cares as long as he gets energy out of it.
    • This point was actually Fridge Brilliance for this troper. Think about it: Kyuubey's race are Sufficiently Advanced Aliens. Their reality-warping powers are essentially just very fancy technology. This means that they're centuries, maybe even millennia, ahead of us scientifically. Given that, it's incredibly likely that their understanding of entropy is very different from ours; or, to put it another way, even explaining it in such a manner that the most advanced physicists of our day and age would judge to be correct would be dumbing it down as far as they're concerned. Given this, why make a fuss about simplifying it just a little further to ease its consumption by little girls?
    • I think the correctness of it is unimportant. The main point of it is to drive home the idea: Kyubey is utterly alien, in a way seldom seen in fiction. He's not only emotionless, relentless in pursuing his goal, and a hive mind that cares nothing for one body, but even the thing he's doing in the story is incomprehensibly alien to any human being: the heat death of the universe is an event that's somewhere around 10^100 years away. In that time the solar system could be fully recreated, humans to re-evolve and the Sun to die more than 10^80 times. Yet he's here, today, working on postponing that date, and working personally with humans on their timescale. Just try to figure out how something like THAT thinks. Either that, or he's just a minor servant or the extension of an even greater eldritch horror. Alternatively, maybe the heat death is much closer than we think, and his race might be the only one that realized it. Now there's a scary prospect.
  • Can Charlotte create cheesecake?
  • Kyubey claims its species is emotionless. Yet, they obviously care enough about their own existence to go through such great lengths to prevent entropy. Caring, even if it is only for your own survival, is technically an emotion.
    • Wanting to protect your own existence can also be derived from many logical means. Using some outer-world logic, he may have formulated it was more beneficial to exist than to not, or at least "most people would prefer to exist, so we shall cater to them".
    • Could just be instinct. Also, episode 11 reveals that emotions are considered a mental disorder to incubators. So some incubators might have had emotions, but were shunned for being different.
    • It is quite possible to have goals, and work to pursue them, without having emotions. Think artificial intelligence--an AI you program to strive for some goal will pursue that goal relentlessly, in fact relentlessly isn't even an applicable word because it won't even consider that ceasing to pursue it is an option, only changes in strategy. It'll pursue that goal with more vigor than any human. The incubators have the goal of prolonging the universe, presumably as a means of achieving the deeper goal of "keep ourselves and/or our creators and/or all life in the universe from being destroyed for as long as possible". The only way to make them give up would be to convince them that their approach will not work or that another will work better or possibly that some goal they hold even higher is mutually exclusive (not likely); any other appeal or factor of any kind will be useless. THAT is what a lack of emotions gets you.
  • In episode 8, when Homura turns Kyubey into swiss cheese, he is shown to have been shot at least fifteen times. The largest magazine clips for handheld pistols only carry twelve bullets. Unless she used two guns or reloaded partway through, fifteen shots isn't possible, unless there's a recently made clip with greater carrying capacity that I don't know about.
    • It's a Beretta M9, which has 15 rounds (meaning she used every single one). Might actually count as a Shown Their Work, given the exactness.
    • So if all 15 bullets pierced Kyubey, then why isn't there any bullet-holes on the park bench?
      • Because they were all fired parallel to the bench.
        • This is explained. In episode 10 and 11, we see Homura using her Time powers to group her shots. She'll stop time; then fire, reload, then fire again however many times she has ammo; then start time again. To the outside world; all of her shots go off at the same time. It doesn't matter how many rounds she has per clip.
  • In episode 11, Madoka wants to go out into the storm to help Homura. Her mom, very realistically doesn't allow her, saying she should let the police or rescue workers deal with it. Madoka defends that they couldn't handle it. That right there would normally be a red flag, but one encouraging speech later, Madoka's mom seems to think a fourteen year old girl is more capable than an entire squad of adult men with rescue vehicles.
    • Junko is by this point aware of the fact that Madoka is hiding something important from her that likely caused Sayaka's death and has been causing her mood swings. Given Madoka's cryptic explanation of what she has to do, she rightly assumes that it's related to the same thing she doesn't know about.
      • Still, the cryptic explanation would make any realistic parent (deconstruction = realistic, not just Darker and Edgier) even more reluctant to let their children go off into danger. The only reason this kind of thing works in any other anime is because at this point the parent is aware of the child's powers or Mon traveling companions, so they know their child will be protected. Madoka on the other hand is still a normal fourteen year old and her mom doesn't know any different.
        • To quote the Puella Magi Wiki, "In Episode 6, Junko and Madoka had a conversation on how difficult it is to do the right thing, even when no one is in the wrong (per say). Junko's advice was for Madoka to be on the wrong against her friend to solve the problem, even if it means that her friend would hate her for it. In Episode 11 Junko confronts Madoka to stop her from getting into the danger of the storm, Madoka reminds her mother that she is a good girl and never does anything wrong but she tells her she needs to do this, a throwback to their earlier conversation. Madoka knows that what she is doing will worry her family, but she also knows that she must disobey her mother to save her family and her town. This conversation between Junko and Madoka earns her mother's trust."
    • We don't know how much the average muggle knows about Puella Magi. Considering the fact that many important historical figures have been contractees, it can be assumed that there's some general idea about something or other that happens with teenage girls and/or a general social rule that teenage girls should be left to their own devices. Junko knows Madoka's hiding something.
      • It's also been theorized that Roberta is the witch form of the School Teacher, which could give Junko even more reasonable suspicion that Madoka is a Puella Magi or is planning to become one.
  • Episode 6: The major Wham! Line of the episode. Kyubey seeming surprised, calling Madoka crazy for "Throwing her friend" off an overpass. Seems reasonable until you realize that he KNOWS she doesn't know the truth, as he never told her. There's no reason for him to seem so surprised, or pose this statement this way, other than it being the most shocking way to reveal the truth about Soul Gems.
    • Kyubey may not have told the girls the truth, but the girls know that Soul Gems are important at least. He probably didn't think Madoka would actually take Sayaka's Soul Gem and throw it off an overpass.
    • Being a hive-mind creature, he's likely to have some problems keeping in mind that unless he's actually told other people about certain things, they just won't know them.
  • So, we know that no matter what, regardless of whether Madoka has made her Abstract Apotheosis wish yet or not, it is inevitable that a soul gem will either be destroyed or go dark. This applies to every single magical girl. Madoka, in the new system, is preventing darkened soul gems from becoming witches by bringing them to her magical afterlife instead. But she's a magical girl too, so won't her soul gem go dark eventually too? She wouldn't be able to save herself...
    • Except she does save herself. It's shown in the montage before the new world is created that her witch form engulfs the Earth, and an even bigger Madoka comes along to defeat her, so it can be assumed that she will be able to save herself at the end of time. There's also the fact she becomes the anthropomorphic personification of hope by the end. Wouldn't be a very useful personification of hope if she could feel despair.
      • I'm not necessarily saying she'd become a witch or fall into despair. But she does have only a finite amount of magic she could expend, right? And with no direct contact with incubators, she could still run out.
      • Magic in this universe doesn't seem to have a limit for anyone. The only thing that seems to quallify as a limiter is the speed at which a Magical Girl's Soul Gem darkens. That itself has a few factors behind it, such as a Magical Girl's power potential (which is just the amount of despair they are likely to experience, or how important they could be to the universe) and their current state of mind (being depressed seems to speed up the darkening, as demonstrated by Homura in episode 12, when the realization of the consequences and futility of her actions makes her Soul Gem go from bright purple to almost completely corrupted in in just a few seconds). Also, the Incubators don't give them magic; that's something that they just unlock for the Magical Girls, and the Incubators are just there for questions, advice, Magical Girl candidate scouting, and Grief Seed collecting.
  • So, in each alternate timeline, there is a different Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko, Mami, etc. Does this mean there's a different Homura too? Since it's mostly Mental Time Travel, it can be assumed that it's largely just her Soul Gem traveling. does the presence of the soul gem suffocate the consciousness of the alternate universe Moemura who wakes up to the aftermath of the battle with Walpurgisnacht? Especially considering the alternate universes don't seem to cease existing when Homura leaves them... (The scene of her "walking" back to the beginning of a timeline is probably artistic licence, regardless of whether the rest of this Fridge Horror is valid.) On a less horrifying note, does she need to re-heal her eyes each timeline?
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