Kriemhild Gretchen

Kriemhild Gretchen (KRIEMHILD•GRETCHEN) is the witch form of Madoka Kaname. She appears in the fourth timeline of Episode 10 as a mountain-sized creature. Her name was not shown during initial broadcast, but was added in a Nicovideo broadcast version one week later.

Her formation in the second timeline involves thunderclouds coalescing into a giant humanoid (her name is not shown here in either broadcast, however, and thus it is not known whether this witch is also called Kriemhild Gretchen). According to Kyuubey, her strength in the fourth timeline is of such a magnitude that she could obliterate the planet within ten days. Her appearance in both timelines is essentially identical (if one looks closely at her fourth timeline appearance, they will see the head at the top of the shadow between the outstretched arms), though in the second timeline only her head was really shown at all, with the body still forming.

救済の魔女。その性質は慈悲。この星の全ての生命を強制的に吸い上げ彼女の作った新しい天国（結界）へと導いていく。 この魔女を倒したくば世界中の不幸を取り除く以外に方法は無い。もし世界中から悲しみがなくなれば魔女はここが天国であると錯覚するだろう。

Kriemhild Gretchen Runes KRIEMHILD•GRETCHEN Type Witch of salvation Nature Mercy Episodes Episode 10 Witch of salvation. Her nature is mercy. She absorbs any life on the planet into her newly created heaven--her barrier. The only way to defeat this witch is to make the world free of misfortune. If there's no grief in this world, she will believe this world is already a heaven.

Observations and speculah

• In Goethe's Faust, Gretchen, also known as Margarete, was the name of Faust's lover. She dies at the end of Part 1 of Faust, but returns at the end of Part 2 as a Pentinent in heaven. She is allowed to lead Faust's soul into heaven's higher spheres.
• Kriemhild, also known as Gudrun, is a figure from Norse Mythology. She is an important character in the epic poem Nibelungenlied. Note also that Kriemhild comes from the German words for "mask" and "battle".
• Some have come to believe that the mask shown at the end of the ending credits is actually Kriemhild's face, considering "Kriemhild"'s meaning of "battle mask".
• Kriemhild Gretchen's appearance as a giant shadow may be based off the phenomenon known as a Brocken spectre. In both German folklore and Goethe's Faust, Walpurgis Night occurred on the Brocken, a mountain peak in Germany. The conditions on the Brocken often cause Brocken spectres, which are magnified shadows of climbers being projected onto mist or clouds. Kriemhild Gretchen appears after the witch known as Walpurgis Night is defeated. If this is true, it's also possible that Kriemhild is not as large as she appears.
• In Episode 1, shortly after the runic text reading "Prologue in Heaven", we see the upside-down form of a giant shadow above Walpurgis Night's spell circle (the symbols seen behind Walpurgis Night). Based off her appearance and her desire to create "heaven", it can only be concluded that this shadow is Kriemhild Gretchen.
• Kriemhild can only be defeated if the world is rid of all misfortune within the ten days it will take for her to destroy it. This could mean that the only feasible way of defeating her is by having a girl become a Puella Magi with the wish to rid the world of misfortune (or, alternately, to just kill Kriemhild outright -- which would probably make the new Puella Magi a witch even more powerful than Kriemhild herself).
• It's probable that when Kyubey says Kriemhild will "destroy the planet" he simply means that Kriemhild's barrier will grow to encompass it or that she will wipe out all life on it in favor of her dream world barrier. In the event the latter were the case, Kriemheld could be likened to the biblical Apocalypse. All sinners (misfortune) are destroyed before paradise itself (the witch's barrier) settles on Earth for those still alive.
• In Episode 12, Madoka, upon absorbing all the grief of fellow Puellae Magi, transforms into an "ultimate witch" (see picture below). The name of this witch is not known - however, her actions correspond well to the description on this card - she was born from all the grief of the world, and is defeated by rewriting the rules of the universe.

Gallery

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  Madoka/Kriemhild's grief seed.

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  Madoka's witch transformation in the second timeline.

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  Madoka's witch form.

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  Kriemhild Gretchen as seen just before Homura resets in the fourth timeline in the Nicovideo Channel broadcast.

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  A closeup of the face of the ultimate witch form of Madoka born as a result of her wish in the story timeline.

External links

• Kriemhild Gretchen card at official website (Japanese)