'Violet Evergarden' Episode 7

In this one episode we get to see Violet contemplate her past actions by observing the grief someone else is going through as a result of the death of someone incredibly close to him, and the effects that would have. Then finding out that Gilbert is presumed dead, finding herself in the same place that Oscar was at the start of the episode, running away from the truth, not wanting to accept this information. She gets to see and experience grief all in one episode. This episode revolves around a writer that had lost both his wife and daughter to illness, and is suffering from writer's block as a result. He now spends his time drinking to the point that he is unable to even type.

Violet is hired by him to be his scribe, so that she would write while he verbalized the instructions. From the moment they meet he becomes difficult with her, treating her more as a maid as opposed to a Doll. Violet tells him directly that he is being difficult, as he asks her to make dinner while he himself drinks. After cleaning the house, he finds that she had hidden all of his alcohol, so that he would not be distracted. This is where we see the first difference between Violet Evergarden and every other piece of media, we would expect Oscar to be enraged at this, however in this instance he is disinterested more than anything else. Almost as if everything else in his life holds no meaning.

As the episode progresses, we see the relationship between Oscar and Olivia. It is a warm and loving relationship that the father and daughter possessed, and this is reflected in the play that he is writing. A play about a little girl fighting evil with spirits so that she is able to return to her father back home, a wish on his part that he holds onto, hoping to see his daughter again. What is wonderful about this is how we see the different ways in which people move on, both in a positive manner and in a negative manner. With Oscar starting out by numbing himself through alcohol, to expressing his grief by way of the play, which allows him to face the grief that he is going through, confront it, and let out all the emotions that he had been keeping inside all this time.

The pinnacle of this episode truly comes when Oscar is faced with coming up with a satisfying conclusion to the play, a play he is so far happy with as a result of just how much Violet is invested in Olivia, wishing for her to return to her father. The first time that we see Oscar express any strong emotions is when Violet finds Olivia’s parasol, where he is bombarded with the memories of his daughter in the ranch he lives in. It is by this parasol that he manages to find the ending that is unique and satisfying. By incorporating the wish Olivia made regarding running across the lake with the parasol while stepping on the leaves. A moment that Oscar sarcastically requested Violet to try, which she treated as a true request. What follows is probably the most memorable moment in the entire show; a moment of pure beauty and an emotional high where we witness the moment where Oscar manages to finally let loose with his emotions and move on, animated with one of the most stunning sequences I have ever seen. Combine this with the stellar soundtrack, and you have a moment that would open the floodgates to have you in tears.

It is not only Oscar that gets a significant arc in this episode. Violet herself has a significant amount of growth afforded to her. Having witnessed the ramifications of having the promises between people go unfulfilled she starts to question herself, and the amount of people she had killed. The amount of promises she had prevented from being kept by her own hand. During the sail back home, she starts to understand what Claudia meant in episode one when he told her that she is burning inside as a result of the things that she had done in her past. This realization shakes her so much that she questions if she is allowed to do what she is doing now.

It truly is a testament to just how packed every episode of Violet Evergarden really is, as we are still not done with what happens in the episode. When docking and stepping off of the boat, she runs into Tiffany Evergarden, the woman she was originally supposed to stay with in episode one. Tiffany expresses how glad she is that Violet is who she is now, and lets slip that Gilbert is gone, thus prompting Violet to run to Claudia and ask him directly, to which he admits that Gilbert is in fact missing in action and presumed dead.