Okay who else was screaming during the last five minutes of the episode? First of all, OH GOD, CARDIA DROPPED THE POISON!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE GOES HER LAST RESORT!!! Secondly, I know I shouldn’t be laughing but oh my god, I was 99% sure Lupin was going to be shot in this scene, which would have been far more dramatic. I was waiting for it, knowing that their special moment was going to be short-lived and interrupted by Finis.
Instead, Lupin is thrown off the bridge. Not only was it anticlimactic, but it made me laugh for two reasons: One, It guarantees his survival, after-all it’s Lupin we are talking about. A fall like that is nothing for the guy. And two, Finis could have had tried to make it so Cardia would accidentally kill Lupin herself because of the Horologium’s poison. Shocker he didn’t even consider that, it would have been twisted and cruel, but right up his alley.
Now that the Philosopher Stone has been completely used up, the Horologium is now truly activated and their metamorphosis will begin. And dear lord, Isaac taking over Finis is so creepy, in fact his presence wayyyy~ more intense than in game. Seeing him in motion only makes it feel a lot more real.
However there is one important thing that was revealed in this episode that should be noted: The Cardia and Finis we know are not actually Isaac’s children. They are merely his perfected recreation of them. It’s even worse when you see how obsessed he is about Cardia. It’s clear she was daddy’s favourite, where poor Finis didn’t even stand a chance. Ironically, the Finis we know has developed a Daddy-Complex, an unhealthy one where he is willing to serve his purpose as Isaac’s vessel at the expense of his life. Unfortunately for Cardia, as she was created merely to host the Horologium until the awakening, now that it has been truly activated, it’s only a matter of time before she too will be sacrificed on the behalf of enabling Isaac to acquire his Godly status.
It’s a shame how Lupin’s confession of his love had to be interrupted. We all knew it was going to happen, but it certainly make it any less swoon-worthy. Cardia was happy to hear he loves her, but she didn’t reciprocate his confession at the moment because she knew she was running out of time and if he stays close to her, he will die. But Lupin isn’t going to have any of that, he is willing to die to be with her.
Van being the amazing guy he is gave me a lot of feels this episode, especially when Delly told him (and the rest) to live. There was a scene where Lupin had gotten angry at him for not pulling the trigger last week because it would have meant Cardia would be safe- but still ‘cursed’, Finis would be dead, and Isaac’s plans would be foiled! But the reason why Van didn’t shoot was because he cared more about Cardia’s dream to be freed from the poison. He knows how much she wants to be normal, and he is willing to take the difficult path to find a way to achieve it.
MY EMOTIONS!!!!!! THIS IS WHY VAN IS IN MY TOP 3 OKAY?! (Also explains why he’s ranked higher in my bias than Lupin!)
Cardia didn’t get a whole lot of screentime this episode, but she did have her moments. The first was when she was sympathetic to Finis and his fate, asking if he was afraid to die, and called bullshit on their “father’s” so-called “Love”. It’s beautiful to see how Cardia has grown and learned what love actually is, to the extent she knows the version Finis goes on about is not love at all.
The second was when she made a break for it, grabbing the poison from her discarded clothes and searching for Lupin. Truth to be told, it was clear that Cardia wasn’t running to escape with him, but actually to say her Goodbyes. She was prepared to take the poison, but she wavered when he professed his love to her, making her want to cling onto that hope one more time.
And according to Victor, there is still hope. There’s an opportunity for them to rid of her poison, but it’s a tricky task. Cardia of course doesn’t know this, Lupin didn’t get a chance to tell her, which probably would have been the smartest thing to do, but then again there is no time to waste when it comes to confessing your love in a do or die situation like this, right?!
I was pleasantly surprised with how they actually didn’t reveal too much of Idea, heck they didn’t even bring the old hag to the scene. Despite having deserted their organization, Saint-Germain was able to bring magical reinforcements. The old hag only helped out because they share a common cause, and that is to stop Isaac’s plans from bearing fruit. They certainly were helpful until the Steel whips came flying and smashing all the airships. Must be some sort of anti-magic stuff on that to work, so let’s just roll with that.
In all, I am super pleased with both the execution and the animation quality of this episode (IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT GUYS!!!!). The first half was the part in the game where I felt was incredibly sluggish and dragged on for a bit too long, causing that portion of the story to lose its intensity. Here they made every second count and kept the pacing rolling. Hard to believe next week will be the final episode, but I look forward to it because they have been delivering this part of the story exceptionally well!
