Note: This post is considered an episode review and it dives into spoilers for the movie.
Well, here I am with the latest installment of Crown Handler. That’ll of course change soon but it’ll definitely be the most recent one I can tackle for the time being. Having released in 2023, this movie is now two years old but you know, I don’t consider an episode review “late” if it’s still out before the next episode releases so I say I’m still on time. Crazy that this series started in 2021 and it’ll only soon get past the halfway point. I imagine this series isn’t a priority for Actas, certainly not over Girls und Panzer, and COVID might’ve messed with things early on but these movies probably should’ve come out a year apart.
Chapter 3 immediately follows the big cliffhanger left by Chapter 2, with Richard asking Princess to join him in reforming Albion. Later in the movie, he reveals that he wants to change the whole world for the better. While Princess respects Richard’s vision, she’s disturbed by the extreme lengths her cousin is willing to go to see it fulfilled, leaving her indecisive. Surprisingly, Richard lets Princess go and gives her time to think his offer over. Princess informs the rest of Team White Pigeon about Richard. Not wanting to trust the prince and lacking evidence to incriminate him as a backup, the team simply informs Control of what’s going on. It does feel a little anticlimactic that Princess doesn’t immediately choose a side though watching her grapple with whether to side with Richard or not does become an interesting development for the movie.
In light of the power struggle caused by Edward’s death and lacking a mole due to Bishop’s death, Control plants the team within the royal castle to gather intel. While Princess and Beatrice can already stay at the castle without raising suspicion, Ange and Dorothy pose as recently hired maids for the royal family. While I get sending in two of the more action oriented spies, it is a risky decision since the Duke of Normandy would recognize them as Princess’s friends. There’s one humorous moment where Dorothy has to hide from the Duke and Giselle, without also alarming the other maids.
With Edward dead, Mary is now the first in line to inherit the throne and she must now prepare for her inevitable coronation. Richard secretly arranges for Mary to take extra lessons with a strict teacher, presumably to pressure her into abdicating or present her to Albion’s nobility as unfit to be queen. Considering that Mary was already stressed out by her royal duties before becoming first in line, this plan almost works. Mary is unable to handle the new curriculum and it eventually culminates in her dangerously trying to escape the palace, almost falling to her death in the process. Ironically, this convinces me more that Crown Handler might eventually end with Mary on the throne. There’d definitely be some poetry in giving the crown to the person who wants it the least.
To help Mary a little bit, Princess informs the Duke about Mary’s schedule (and by extension, Richard’s machinations) and she successfully secures time for Mary and her assistant Olivia to meet up with her and her friends for tea. I’m really liking Princess’s sisterly bond with Mary. She definitely sees a bit of herself in the younger royal. Something that I would’ve liked to see in this movie is Mary getting to know the other spies. There’s Dorothy saving Mary when she tries to escape the palace and that is a great scene (and one of the only two action scenes in the movie) but that’s about it. I especially wanted Mary to interact with Ange though maybe she’s too young for either of them to have known each other before the London Revolution or she was born after it.
Richard eventually decides to escalate the power struggle by sending in assassins to kill Mary on her way to a royal engagement. Not going to lie, it is really stupid how Princess isn’t with Mary when this happens. All Richard has to do is tell Princess they have a meeting of their own and that’s somehow enough to convince Princess to stay behind without her suspecting anything. What does work is Princess blaming herself for what’s happened. She feels her indecision on Richard’s offer is leaving him unchecked and putting Mary at risk. It not only follows up on the movie’s overarching plot thread, it also ties neatly into Princess’s relationship with Mary.
To protect Mary, Princess asks the team to help her and Olivia flee the Kingdom. A bold plan but surprisingly, the plan gest approved by Control. I’m guessing taking Mary out of the picture will make it more likely for Princess to become queen. You’d think security would be very tight after Edward’s death but somehow, Mary is able to sneak out by simply hiding in one of the laundry bins. I’m starting to think Richard didn’t actually have to pull any strings to get Edward assassinated.
Something I’ve noticed about Crown Handler is that every time you think something is going well at the end of each movie, there’s this last minute wrench thrown in. Just when you think Bishop gets to leave, he gets assassinated. Right as the team disposes the cavorite bomb, Edward gets assassinated. I guess Chapter 3 breaks the bold by not having someone die but it more or less pulls the same stunt. Right as Ange gets Mary and Olivia across to last checkpoint, the three get captured by Kingdom forces who have been informed of the operation. Princess and the others then get surrounded by Giselle and her men and are forced to surrender. Parallel to this, Richard also gets arrested on suspicion for Edward’s death, having been ratted out by his accomplice at the theater last episode. With the team exposed and imprisoned, the Duke forces Princess to spy on the Commonwealth.
It irks me a little that the Duke is somehow one step ahead of Team White Pigeon. Like, I get him arresting Richard as he spends the movie suspecting the prince of something but with stopping the escort mission, it’s complete plot coincidence that he knows of it ahead of time. I’m also curious how his ultimatum towards Princess will work. I mean, surely Control knows the mission failed and they’d therefore not trust Princess for the time being. Regardless, this is admittedly a potentially cool shakeup for the next movie. It’s also worth noting that even though the Duke now knows of Princess’s treachery, he still hasn’t figured out that the girl isn’t actually Charlotte. That might still come into play later down the line.
Unfortunately, this is the last main Crown Handler post for the time being. Chapter 4 will finally release on May 23 but that’ll be for Japan only so I won’t get to the movie anytime soon. It sucks to stop now because I think the series is starting to pick up after Chapter 3. Even though the movie is light on action, it’s by far the most interesting plot wise and it certainly offers the wildest cliffhanger yet. The wait for the rest of the series is going to be agonizing but hopefully it’ll be worth once those movies finally arrive.
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