Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut – Episode 7 [A Girl’s Truth]

The seventh episode of Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut begins with a bombshell – the fossilized has Ragnarok broken out of its stone shell and has made its way to Ries Island!

On the island, Celes and Saniya are getting dressed for swim training with the rest of the Chivalric Order. Celes confesses that she’s not the man-hater she had previously proclaimed herself to be. She is interested in men, but her experience has only been with being around older men in positions of power; she has no idea how to talk to a guy her own age. Yet because of her position as the daughter of one of the Four Great Nobles, and being the head of the Chivalric Order at the academy, she does not want to come to rely on a man for anything she can do herself. So she wants something she won’t let herself have, essentially.

Down on the beach, Lux freaks out when he sees his female classmates dressed up in their nicest swimwear. Apparently he’s never seen a bathing suit before. Philuffy splashes him with the cold ocean water, and he runs off, only to bump into Lisha. She’s worried that her super lowcut bikini bottom will reveal too much of her tattoo, but when he tries to reassure her, Lisha freaks out on him and calls him a pervert. *eye roll*  Celes and Saniya show up, and at the first mention of Luno, Lux is whisked away by Tillfarr, Sharis and another girl in an attempt to get him to dress up in a bikini. Ummm, I guess these girls were never taught basic anatomy in school because if you put a guy in a bikini…. it wouldn’t work, no? >>;  At least not without some major strategic readjusting.

At learning that there will be no swimming training after all, Celes and Saniya get all snotty and leave. There’s a flashback to when Luno and Celes had their outing together, and Celes admits that she learned her sword and battle tactics from Lux’s grandfather Wade Roadbelt. Yes, that is his actual last name. Furthermore, Celes is the reason why Lux’s grandfather died. She feels she must win the battle against Lux so she can protect him; however Lux will not allow himself to lose.

The next day is D-Day for the duel between Celes and Lux. Celes has a shiny golden Drag-Ride named Lindworm. They begin their battle, but Lux is only using his Wyvern because some of the other students still don’t know that he can wield Bahamut.

But while this battle is going on, Tillfarr and Sharis confront the peeping tom, who is revealed to be Saniya! She is a spy for the Heidburg Empire, and her mission is to kill everyone on the island. From a ways away, Fugil starts to play his whistle and Saniya transforms with her own unnamed Drag-Ride.

On the battlegrounds, Celes and Lux are still fighting when the missing Ranarok from the beginning of the episode breaks through the earth under them and thrusts large tentacles up in their direction. In the heat of the moment, as the Chivalric Order moves into action to evacuate everyone, Philuffy manages to slip away. It seens that the sound of the whistle appears to have some kind of draining effect on her. But she is found by her older sister, the headmistress, who promises to protect her.

Celes has been injured, but she insists on fighting the Ragnarok alone. She manages to use Lindworm’s teleportation ability to launch a killing blow on the Ragnarok, but Fugil’s whistle brings it back to life. Saniya tries to attack Celes, but Lux blocks her attack. And while he’s pinned between Saniya and Celes, Saniya reveals Celes’ secret to Lux. No surprise there though, because he’d already been told it by Celes when he was Luno. Then the Ragnarok launches an ink attack, allowing Lux and Celes to slip away.

Hidden under the cover of darkness, Celes explains her secret in greater detail.  Lux’s grandfather had been Celes’ teacher when she was a child, and upon hearing that the Old Empire was corrupted, she told her teacher about it; but instead of being grateful to Lux’s grandfather, the Empire threw him in jail where he later died. Furthermore this action taken by his grandfather caused Lux’s entire family was thrown out of the palace, meaning Celes is essentially the sole reason why Lux is no longer a prince and why his family is in pieces.

Celes expects Lux to be furious with her, but he’s not. He has his reasons, one of which being because he was keeping Bahamut a secret from her. Plus of course soon as he reveals his black sword device, Celes knows Lux was Luno. As he heads into battle, Lux tells her that he really likes her awkwardness and that is will protect her at all costs. He launches Reload on Fire against the Ragnarok, slashing all of its tentacles to pieces and running the Ragnarok through with a final blow. Meanwhile Celes attempts to hold Saniya at the end of her sword, but is unable to kill her and allows Saniya to fly away.

It turns out that the hooded figure we’ve seen so far this season is not Fugil at all, but someone named Hayes. Maybe he’s Lux and Fugil’s bastard younger sibling? Or a clone? Hayes taunts Lux to remember what happened five years ago, then disappears.

After the battle is over, Lux tends to Celes’ injuries. She tells him she is still bothered by him pretending to be Luno, and by the fact that he saved her. Celes asks him to help her learn about the feelings of men, or how to get along with them. And with that, she approves his admittance into the Royal Knight Academy and the Chivalric Order.

In his room alone later that same night, Lux tries to remember the events Hayes had referenced, but is unable to recall everything in full. It is unclear at this point whether this is because of Lux’s own subconscious, or there is something magical in effect.

Suddenly the ground begins to shake, and everyone runs out to meet the headmistress, who is watching a giant stone whale emerge from the ocean. She explains that it is another Ruins, and this is when their training camp is actually going to start.

My thoughts: The surprise twist with the hooded figure not being Fugil really caught me off guard, and now I really want to know who Hayes is, and where Fugil is too. And I want to know what’s going on with Philuffy’s ability to hear the whistle and be affected by it. I just have all these questions, dammit!

I’m finding that episodes like these with less fanservice make me appreciate the series a lot more. I know I know, it’s an ecchi so it should be expected (and I do), but the dial being turned down on the fanservice now and then is still appreciated.

Also, I’ll never get tired of seeing Lux’s transformation with Bahamut. 😀