11

In the beginning episodes of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Kyubey offers the teenage girls in the series the chance to have a wish come true in exchange for becoming a magical girl, and moreover seems to imply that any wish can be made possible.

However, in the last episode, Kyubey tells Madoka:

Since you're now the central point of karmic destiny from numerous different timelines, no matter how enormous the wish, you will likely be able to make it come true.

This of course seems to imply that with some other magical girls, some wishes are too "enormous" to come true. But this seems to contradict Kyubey's earlier words, and this doesn't really seem to be a point of deception either.

Given this, are some wishes actually impossible for some magical girls, or is there perhaps actually no inconsistency here?

EDIT: I've only watched the anime series, and while the first two films sound a lot like an adaptation of the contents of the anime, I don't know much about the Rebellion film. If this is of any "importance", I am referring to whether or not all wishes are possible prior to the aftermath of Madoka's final decision to remove all witches in time and space from coming into being.

Maroon
  • 14,564
  • 14
  • 71
  • 137
  • 1
    It's true for any given timeline prior to mass time-jumping. After that, many timelines became connected and the conditions became different from what Kyuubei was originally stating this rule works in. But like in all magic worlds, it's more of a guideline than a rule. – Hakase Apr 29 '14 at 17:00

1 Answers1

6

It could be assumed that every wish is possible, yet Kyubey may lie about a wish being possible since granting a wish will also drain the universe of energy. Kyubey will most likely only grant a wish if the energy outputted from a Magical Girl becoming a Witch is greater than what was needed to grant the wish, indicated when Kyubey sometimes says something like:

Your wish has conquered entropy

It's assumed that the amount of energy to resurrect someone would be far greater than what would be generated by most Magical Girl/Witch transformations. After all, since Kyubey's race can manipulate souls (ripping them out of bodies and making them into gems), they probably know how much energy would be needed to make one.

The only wish which may in fact be impossible is something that affects the laws of thermodynamics in a way that entropy no longer exists. Otherwise, a Magical Girl like Homura or Oriko who knew about the transformation process probably would have sought out a Magical Girl who could make such a wish. (I'm assuming Oriko knew since she knew of Madoka becoming a witch who would destroy the world and would question Kyubey as to why.)

Of course, to change the laws of thermodynamics, it probably would need someone on Madoka's level to be able to produce enough energy by changing into a witch so strong it would destroy the universe.

nhahtdh
  • 13,592
  • 13
  • 57
  • 100
Memor-X
  • 39,558
  • 50
  • 166
  • 346
  • The problem is that in the final universe we see in the anime series, we _do_ see the magical girls existing - they simply disappear after having used it up. In the last episode, after exiting a fight with Mami, Kyoko laments that Sayaka has disappeared after using up all her power, just when they were becoming friends. – Maroon Apr 29 '14 at 23:01
  • @Maroon are you referring to what i said in the last paragraph? – Memor-X Apr 29 '14 at 23:14
  • Yes. It's possibly that I confused that outcome with "Ultimate Madoka's universe" though, but to me that universe ("Ultimate Madoka") sounded more like the universe prior to the scenario created by Madoka's decision in at the end of the anime series. – Maroon Apr 29 '14 at 23:15
  • @Maroon just edited my answer, i was referring to the events of the third Movie Rebellion which take place after the series. in the timeline now after Rebellion Akuma Homura's universe is the final one – Memor-X Apr 29 '14 at 23:17
  • Ok, what are you referring to with the "Ultimate Madoka" universe then? – Maroon Apr 29 '14 at 23:17
  • 1
    @Maroon after Rebellion the Universe as been recreated twice, first by Madoka as we see in the anime and again by Homura in the movie. i refer to the first recreation as Ultimate Madoka's universe and the second one i refer to as Akuma Homura's universe – Memor-X Apr 29 '14 at 23:20
  • 1
    @Maroon have edit my answer to only be about the original universe, the main constraint of granting a wish is the amount of energy that's balanced out from being consumed to grant the wish and created from transforming into a witch – Memor-X Apr 30 '14 at 00:00
  • That line is likely just because reversing time is literally also reversing entropy, where normal wishes only need energy which may or may not be generated by reversing entropy. – user23013 Dec 25 '14 at 19:28