“Worlds Beyond Number” closed the first book of “The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One.” Suvi (Aabria Iyengar), Ame (Erika Ishii), and Eursulon (Lou Wilson) play the titular characters in a world crafted by Brennan Lee Mulligan. While this epic tale in Umora is not complete, the first book in the saga completed an epic coming-of-age story.

Ame, Eursulon, and Suvi first met as children spending the summer together at Grandma Wren’s cottage. While it was only one summer, this experience bonded the trio. Ame trained under Grandma Wren, who raised her and mentored her as her legacy. Throughout “The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One,” she grew into a powerful witch in her own right.

The third chapter saw Ame manage to hold her own at her coven’s conclave. However, she truly came into her own in the fourth chapter. She discovered that while being kind is important, it is just as necessary to be cunning. This discovery was in part due to her experience stepping into Suvi’s world of war and duplicity. In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Ishii discussed this key discovery.

Erika Ishii Explains Why Ame Is The Right Witch Of The World’s Heart For This Time

Erika Ishii:

“I think it was a great deal of stepping into her role as the Witch of the World’s Heart. Both inheriting the legacy of Grandmother Wren and finding her own path as that witch. There is something about trying to walk someone else’s path that isn’t right for you and isn’t right for the times. I think that perhaps Grandmother Wren’s path as the witch of being patient and kind and giving so much grace might’ve been right for the Citadel at the time that she was living in. I think that Ame seeing what it is and what is indeed worth saving, but that action must be taken was really kind of what she had to wrap her head around this whole arc.

Walking with Suvi and with Eursulon really put her on the path of understanding what it means to take action. Her big arc of this entire book, I think, was in some ways the climax was in the basement with Keen and in her head. Everything after that is her really stepping into it. Obviously, there’s still growth. She’s still young, and she has an entire station of dealing with humanity to inherit and really grapple with, but I think that understanding how she needs to act in conjunction with her friends was sort of smoother after that real dark night of the soul.”

Grandmother Wren was kind, patient, and wise. She cared for her charges, be they human, spirit, or the world as a whole. However, she was from another era. The lessons Ame learned from her were key to honoring her legacy and becoming the witch she is. However, her time with her true friends proved just as instrumental.

In the wake of betrayal, duplicity, and horror, she reclaimed her mischievous and cunning nature. That moment in the basement seeing some of the worst of humanity unlocked that cunning. Ishii also explained how they balance actor, writer, and producer brains as a player. They also shared how that allowed Ame’s discovery of the need for cunning to happen naturally.

Ame’s Lesson: To Be Kind & Be Cunning

Erika Ishii:

“We’re so immersed in it and these characters. Then listening back and hearing things, I’ll hear things that surprise me still because we were just so in it. I think from the very, very start, I wanted a mischievous character. Brennan and I talked about, I have a list of inspirations. There’s a lot of trixie gods and mischief makers in folklore on that list. But it was also the ‘Be kind’ from episode one. I think it was another instance of Brennan building Wren to reflect Ame. The justification, I made the choice of Ame’s mischievous, but also really dedicated to being nice and kind and good.

Brennan made this incredible mentor figure to justify those decisions and to make them make sense. Much in the way that Steel and Soft and Stone were made to justify so much of how Aabria built Suvi. In this new art form, you have to have your actor brain going and your writer and producer brains going. And so, writer and producer Erika knew that it had to be kind and be cunning, but then actor brain Erika was like, I don’t know, I just got to be kind, and I got to do the right thing.

So, it was really interesting to hear it back in the episode of me saying, you have to be cunning. And then Ame not quite getting there. We’d been building that the entire time, but it was something that my character only realized near the end. Once that was unlocked, I think it was just a matter of time until we got to the broom and the Defying Gravity moment and burning down a house of horrors, cackling.”

Wren mirrors Ame. She is mischievous and cunning in her own way, as evidenced by her familiar Taro. However, her kindness is demonstrated the most in the story itself. Ame pushed down her cunning and elevated kindness as the absolute first. Finding the balance was always at the heart of Ame’s story. From her own familiar, the Fox, to learning how to be tricky along her adventures.

Ame’s future is bright. She has grown into a true witch in her own right. One of the most powerful witches in the world. Ame stands as the protector of the world, both human and spirit. It isn’t clear when “Worlds Beyond Number” will return to Umora for “The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One.” But when they do, it will be interesting to see how Ame finds her place in the coming conflicts between humanity and the spirit world.

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