The following contains Episode 12 spoilers of I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, “Even the Villainess Can Be the Main Character If There Is Love,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
With the 12th and final episode tying everything together in a great clash in the Empire’s capital, I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss now wraps up its Otome Isekai story in the Fall 2022 anime season. The stakes are extremely high for the main character Aileen d’Autriche because her Kuudere fiancé Claude is in serious trouble as a result of Lilia’s cunning.
Aileen is a state enemy as of Episode 12, but that won’t stop her. To finally save both Claude’s demon king status and the Empire as a whole, Aileen must free him from his curse, give him back his demon king authority, and defeat the cunning Lilia Rainworth. Elephas Levi and Prince Cedric are just two of the characters who will step up to the plate along the way.
What Aileen Can Do to Combat Lilia Rainworth
Aileen rarely resorts to using force to achieve her goals as an Otome villain turned hero who believes in the efficacy of love. Instead, Aileen is more like Katarina Claes before her in that she uses her kind words, keen empathy, and astute suggestions to persuade her adversaries to abandon their plans and preserve the peace. In Episode 12, Aileen is forced to use force despite never doing so before. The stakes have never been higher for Aileen, with her fiance Claude imprisoned by a curse, the innocent Levi family in danger of extinction, and Aileen’s engagement in danger of failure. The worst part is that Lilia, a visitor to Isekai, Aileen’s worst foe, is unmoved by simple words. For the day to be won, Aileen needs to draw her Holy Maiden Sword.
Episode 12 is a chaotic one, with many parties converging in the imperial capital, including Claude’s minions like Beezebuth and Keith, as well as Elephas the sorcerer, Isaac, would-be heroine Selena Gilbert, and, of course, Aileen herself. Aileen cleverly coordinates her coalition of friends, dispatching some of them to counteract the dowager empress’ curse while Aileen personally confronts Lilia. Aileen has had enough of Lilia making fun of her and saying that they should fight forever for their amusement. At swordpoint, Aileen challenges Lilia, and when Claude recovers, Aileen musters the strength to ultimately outlast Lilia. The fact that it all came to this is tragic and sad in Aileen’s eyes, but she is powerless to change it. Finally surrounded, Lilia allows her allies to escape her control, including Prince Cedric. Lilia Rainworth capitulates and the Empire is at peace because she has no allies, no weapons, and no strategy.
How Aileen Completes Her Journey to Become the True Otome Heroine
With its heroes receiving a happy ending and its villains receiving a sad one, episode 12 of the heartwarming Otome anime series ends neatly and with hope. Lilia Rainworth would have her pick of eligible bachelors like Isaac or Prince Claude while Aileen, who was reborn as the Otome villain, should have been a snobby girl who got crushed under Claude’s dragon claws at some point. Instead, Aileen changed the course of the narrative using her cunning and compassion, and by the conclusion of Episode 12, it has paid off greatly. As soon as Aileen marries Claude, she achieves her happily ever after and becomes a devoted empress who can enjoy a lifetime of joy and peace. Aileen fought her way toward the heroine’s happy ending when it was supposed that her character would be unhappy and experience an anticlimactic ending.
Inversely, the scheming Lilia Rainworth fell from grace as the would-be heroine thanks to her selfish manipulations for amusement’s sake. She lost not just Cedric but even her freedom as an Isekai guest; Episode 12 shows both her and Cedric in shackles, destined to spend their remaining years in a dungeon. Cedric is gracious enough in Episode 12 to take the blame for all the chaos in the imperial capital, and Lilia can’t stop him. She is also to blame, and not even meta-knowledge can get her out of it.
In the end, Lilia thought she was a brilliant game master, only to suffer the worst ending with Aileen flipping their roles and getting a gold wedding band while Lilia gets cold steel manacles around her wrists. On that hopeful note, I’m the Villainess declares “Fin.” to end the story. It seems unlikely there will be a Season 2, but with this satisfying ending, the anime hardly needs one.
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