“Am I really an alien?” -Ao Fukai
Summary: Naru and Truth are both in Brazil at a Coral plant where Naru is…communing? with the Scub and Truth is killing all the workers. Gazelle & Co. are investigating the fabled Generation Bleu H.Q basement (which is about as barren as Antarctica), trying to find the Quartz stash that Gen. Bleu have somewhere, only to have Stanley inform them that it’s not kept there (thanks Captain Obvious!) Team Pied Piper are in space this week, visiting a Generation Bleu space station to drop off some of the Quartz they’ve collected so far. This introduces Team Harlequin, who’s main job is to protect the Quartz stored in the station. While they’re there, news comes in of a Scub having appeared low in orbit around the Earth. If a Scub Burst happens then a bunch of satellites will fall onto Earth, so Pied Piper is dispatched to deal with it.
Ao can’t see any of the Trapar, so he’s called back temporarily so that everyone can tell him about how much of an alien he is and also to finally tell him a little bit more about how his mother appeared. Ao decides to go out and fight the Secret, despite being handicapped. Ao, Fleur, and Elena defeat the Secret, but because of Truth’s interference, Ao crashes into the Scub with no fuel to get back off. Just as it looks like Ao’s going to burn up re-entering the atmosphere, the Scub breaks up, revealing the Gekko State and another Nirvash! With its help, Ao lands safely back on Earth where a very familiar face emerges as the pilot.
Impressions: [If I were the type of person to do a lot of key smashing in excitement, I’d do it here, but I’m not so just use your imagination]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you thought last weeks episode was crazy, this one turned it up to 11! HOLY AMAZEBALLS! Let’s get down to it then.
The first part of the episode was alright. We had some good Ivica and coffee moments (my second favorite pairing after Ivica and Noah). I was SO CREEPED OUT by the overly friendly Mom/Chief of Team Harlequin. If someone told me to start calling her Mom within 5 minutes of meeting her, I’d be like “Um…No.” It also seemed like she really just wanted Ao not because she liked him or wanted to keep him safe, but because she wanted to keep him in space to experiment on him. They finally explain what exactly the deal is with Ao’s eyes (the fact that he can see Trapar with the naked eye, even though it’s super small) and how Eureka and the Nirvash emerged from a light pillar just like a Scub or a Secret. No one knows what happened to her still but at least we know (about) where she came from.
Not only that, but we’re also filled in on Truth’s origins a little bit. His adoptive father, Professor Johansen, seems like he’s some kind of cult leader who wrote some kind of book about how the current world is not, in fact, the real world. She of the giant forehead and the ability to over look some serious issues like the fact the her “kind” friend killed a bunch of people returns this episode. She does help out Ao thought, by being swallowed (?) by the Coral and therefor opening a hole in the Scub in space that breaks it apart. That was by far the strangest part of the episode. Just what is Naru’s connection with the Scub?
But the best part by far was the last 10 minutes where we get not only the Gekko State and the Nirvash TypeZERO but also EUREKA!! That sound you just heard? It was the collective screaming of a whole fandom as it exploded with excitement. How did she get inside the Scub Coral though? and why does the Gekko State look so beat up? Why does it seem like she doesn’t recognize Ao at all? And was it me, or did she look like she had a bit of a baby bump going on there? So. Many. Questions! I can’t wait for the next episode!!!
Final Though: So Gen. Bleu is keeping the Quartz in space, but what’s the deal with the basement? Stanley says that they process and reuse materials that are found inside the Scub Coral, but since I’m pretty sure he’s actually a villain, I’m not really inclined to believe a word out of his mouth. I bet that that basement will still have a role to play.