Midnight’s thoughts
While a far cry from the emotional roller coaster we rode on last week, the steam does not ease up any in episode 9. With Earthquakes in Russia, thought to be side effects of nuclear testing are actually signs of Time Machine research being conducted. Suzuha’s mission to bring Okabe back into July and get him moving worldlines seems more paramount to her then ever.
Even driving her as far as to pull a gun on him and try to force him along into the time machine.
Okabe, for his credit, thinks that World War III can be avoided without using time travel by using the information they have on them and working against it. Which honestly, is fair, but at the end of the day without the time travel you are like a group of like four or five people against two foreign governments in a race war to see who can develop the time machine faster.
Daru talks Suzuha down from forcing Okabe to go with him. They need more time to research, time is complicated, causality is complicated and what they need to do is research it some more. I nearly broke down and sobbed as Suzuha fell to the ground begging for help. All she wants is a better life, a better future, one that isn’t going to be torn by war.
Okabe picks Mr. Braun’s brain for an idea on who might be behind the attack on the lab and who might of broken into Maho’s apartment. The idea’s lead them to an American intelligence agency.
This throws some interesting cogs in my Suzuha’s mom was the person under the mask idea. Considering she is distinctly Japanese. What reason would she have to be working for an American intelligence company? Perhaps instead the person in question could be the female professor that works with Maho and Yuki’s injury was used to misdirect the audience?
I’m not abandoning the theory all together, but I am adding the female professor to my list of suspicious people.
As if working with Okabe through space and time. He seems to be coming up with theories with Kurisu. Russia’s research on time machines comes directly from the papers that Dr. Nakabachi stole when he killed Kurisu. So the American’s research would surely lead back to her.
Why attack the lab though?
What about the university? Well there was the ‘gas leak’ and the raid on Maho’s hotel room. Where does Kagari come in? Do they know she’s from the future and are trying to kidnap her for that?
Makise shoots that down saying if their time travel research came from the future it would create a paradox. So why Kagari?
Well if you want my theory, it’s a case of mistaken identity. Perhaps they are unaware that the real Makise Kurisu is dead or perhaps think that her death is a cover. Kagari does bare a striking similarity to Makise. That’s all we can really deduce for now.
Meanwhile, instead of getting Maho a new hotel room. He has her stay with Faris, deciding that it’s safer for her then merely moving hotel locations where she could easily be targeted again. Kagari is still under the watchful eye of the temple and working for Mr. Braun during the day for extra protection.
Daru says that he does believe, one day soon that Okabe will get back in the time machine and it’s on that day that Okabe will be reborn as Kyouma, rising like a phoenix from the flames.
A lot of this episode is set up, speculation and theory. Though with all the pieces in motion, it looks like things are going to begin running into high gear soon.
Something interesting to note is that Mayuri’s friend Fubuki also experienced the shift in the time lines. Okabe and her both collapsed and she remembered working at the cafe with Faris. Though, she passed it all off as a dream. Not aware of the true nature of what happened. Does this mean anything? Are more people awakening to reading steiner? Who knows. It’s just something I want to make a note of for now if it becomes important to the plot later on.