REVIEW: ‘Jaadugar: A Witch In Mongolia’ Episode 6 – “The Mergen People”

When looking at the long arc of history, it is very unkind to women. Jaadugar: A Witch In Mongolia Episode 6 presents that truth plainly. Töregene (Ami Koshimizu) finally gets her time in the spotlight after weeks of teasing, and she is just as tragic as Fatima (Akira Sekine) but in different ways. Where Fatima’s place in this world is based on her class, Töregene’s position is firmly tied to her gender. Even with these differences, as the end of the episode shows, there’s plenty of intersectionality between these struggles. 

Töregene does not start her life as a slave but as a dowry. Her marriage into the Mergens creates in her a lack of personhood. She sees herself as an object to be exchanged, which leads her to detach from the world around her even as she can tell that something is scaring her new people. She does reclaim that sense of personhood through becoming an adoptive mother to Khulan (Inori Minase) – which does have its own problematic edge.

Being an adoptive mother is noble but also continues to tie Töregene’s identity to her femininity. That said, there’s not much for the culture or the period to give her otherwise. Really, that’s the point. Simply for being a woman, Töregene and others are pulled along at the whims of various men. Their husbands, their leaders, even their sons. A part of the pain of this background Jaadugar: A Witch In Mongolia Episode 6 gives Töregene is that it is not unique. 

Töregene draws much of the focus in Jaadugar: A Witch In Mongolia Episode 6.

While the episode is rightfully Töregene’s from start to finish, what really connects her to Fatima’s pain is seeing yet another culture nearly erased by the Mongols. In the most beautiful moment of the series yet, the chief of the Merkit Dayir (Akira Ishida) has a spiritual out-of-body experience looking for guidance. He takes the form of a golden bird looking up the rivers to find a new source. Through this vision, he comes to the revelation that his people are effectively doomed and the only hope is to surrender. 

Jaadugar up to this point has avoided delving into this deep mysticism even as its characters clearly believe in such things. Wisely, “The Mergen People” doesn’t speculate on whether or not this experience is real or metaphor. It’s real to Dayir and the Merkit and a cultural belief that will become stifled under Mongol rule. Fatima experiences the same: the restriction of the basics of her Islamic faith. Later in Jaadugar: A Witch In Mongolia Episode 6, Ögedei (Hiro Shimono) will comment on Dayir’s belief; however, he does so like an observer, more detached than Töregene ever could be. 

Both of these sequences are the visual high marks of the episode. The bird sequence is truly the best of the series so far and is peak Science Saru. The studio rarely misses anyway, but their highs are really high. Jaadugar: A Witch In Mongolia Episode 6 complements that with the visuals of a red aurora in the sky like a river. The loss of Dayir and the other Merkit men is an execution, and the sky itself reflects the bloodshed. Just as Töregene is haunted by what she sees, the viewer is as well. 

Science Saru achieves the highest of highs in two particular animation sequences this episode.

And this is all a tragedy, to be sure. At the same time, because Töregene is so passive up to this point in her own story, she is not able to provide the larger context. The conflict between Mergen and Mongol is summarized simply as a push and pull for control over generations. Whatever happened prior to this is unclear, save for both sides doing things the other cannot forgive. Genghis Khan is even more ethereal here than before, merely a phantom silhouette as Töregene learns of him. The metaphor of the Khan being a force of nature persists. 

By the time  Jaadugar: A Witch In Mongolia Episode 6 pulls back to the present, Töregene’s mania from the previous episode makes sense. She’s someone who’s had the whims of men dragging her from anything resembling home and watching anything she could love ripped away, especially her adopted daughter. Why wouldn’t she think Ögedei stole her jada stone just to mess with her? She’s not a person; she’s a toy. 

And then Fatima cuts through the pain to see the missing person underneath. Through sharing their pain together, including Fatima’s real name, a new path opens up. Now, both Fatima and Töregene have a way to regain their personhood. There’s a chance to leverage power for themselves. History may give away how this story ends, but Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Episode 6 states the real point of the series: the reclamation of humanity for these two women. 

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia Episode 6 is streaming now, exclusively on Crunchyroll.

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