






The Romonons and The Silverwood. (spoilers ch88)(Coco needs a damn break)
Coco has had two separate instances where she watches someone let themself die and one where he very heavily implies it in front of her.
The Romonons who let themselves die to be free of the agony of being trapped in gold, dying as they reach for what is comfort. This one is completely by choice, they could have chosen to keep living, but they refuse and purposefully reach for death. This arc really did feel like an ending in many ways. Coco watches as they melt, thanking her for giving them what they need to die. That isn't all that died that day, as the way Coco sees the world was irrevocably changed. How could it not be? She just watched an entire civilization commit suicide in front of her, all because they couldn't take the absolute suffering magic inflicted on them. A curse preventing comfort from ever being in reach and finally being provided that comfort meaning death. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
The silverwood curse requires the host to never relax, never let their guard down, never feel comfort, all in order to continue living. When Custas's father, Dagda, learns of this, he snatches away the total memory-erasure spell that Coco would have used on Custas. He takes away the chance for Coco to once again be the catalyst for a type of death. Dagda lets his wounds run their course and lets the spell wear out. He dies bloody and broken to save Custas, to remove the comfort he had, and save his life. The opposite of the Romonons. In this case, he thinks continuing living for the sake of living, even without your source of comfort, is worth it. At this point, Dagda already saw himself as a corpse walking, so what does it matter if he kills himself? Especially for his beloved son. This weighs heavily on Coco's mind, death is being used both to reach comfort and to take it away.
Then Qifrey brings up his own death almost like a joke. "A wide-open sky to spread my roots." He is currently in a position between the two, a balancing act. Will something finally push him to end it all? Or will something happen that will make the possibility of feeling comfort ever again impossible? We see Qifrey writing something soon after. Perhaps a final goodbye as he is anticipating his death with his secret revealed, especially as he reminisces on the past, thinking of all he has had to do to get to this point. Though for now he will hold on. Hopefully, that goodbye will never have to be read. Maybe, just maybe, a third option can be found in the future, one that costs no one anything.
Due to the nature of these various curses magic invokes, comfort means death and life means no comfort. At least, that is what Coco is being made to believe time and time again. It is no wonder Coco is so distant from the others. While they have seen bits and pieces, they have not faced the worst of it. With luck, this snowfall will serve as a time for Coco to recover, but seeing as death and the cycle of life is something Coco will once again have to face, I worry for her state of mind.