I for one am glad the War Game was done sooner than later, especially with how underwhelming the fight between Bell and Hyakinthos turned out to be. For starters, it was way too short for my liking, and two, strangely I didn’t actually feel like Hyakinthos and Bell actually fought against each other at all. Bell breaks Hyakinthos’ sword and lands a cut on him, Cassandra throws herself onto Bell, Hyakinthos throws some sort of magic at him, Lili counter tackles, Bell gets hit, survives with the help of the ‘lucky charm’ (secretly gifted by Freya– and if my memory served me right, she pulled a similar stunt with a magic book for Bell to learn magic), and knocks Hyakinthos out cold with a punch. That’s it. That was the fight. I wasn’t expecting Freya’s Minotaur 2.0 type of face-off, but I was definitely expecting something better than this, especially after witnessing how badly Bell was beaten up before undergoing secret training with Ais and Tiona. I also would have preferred it if the two of them were more on ‘equal grounds’ rather than Bell over-powering him by his sheer speed (even though we know it is one of his greatest strengths). Seeing Bell have an instant advantage that required Cassandra to intervene definitely watered it down. Properly duking it out would have been more fun to watch.
But that isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the episode. While the fight didn’t quite meet my expectations, I still found it very entertaining to watch. It was quite satisfying and fun to see Bell’s team cleverly come up with a way to deal with the huge the numbers disadvantage, and not to mention: They didn’t hold back any punches! (Not that there was any reason to!) Bell blasting his way into the chamber, Ryu serving as a terrifying threat and major distraction while using Welf’s wondrous magical weapons, which enabled Mikoto to slip through the defences and use gravity magic to contain their opponents, it was so much fun! But in order for their plans to go the way they hoped, all depended on Lili pulling off her disguise as one of Apollo’s children Luam, and infiltrating the base the night before (I knew it was her! YOU GO GIRL!). She was not only able to gain information on precisely where Hyakinthos would be located and helped Welf and Bell get in the easy way, but also was the source of spreading misinformation which caused the confusion. She also served as Bell’s clutch when he was being held down by Cassandra, and counter tackled the girl to get her off of him. Oh and we can’t forget Liach, watching over the real Luam whom they had captured to ensure he couldn’t foil their plans!
And Hestia? Well with her familia coming out victorious, she went all in when it came down to declaring her reward. She not only confiscated Apollo’s property (fittingly, making it into their new home after he had destroyed theirs), disbanded his familia, but also declared Apollo to be eternally banished from Orario (good move, one we can all agree one). DAMNNNNNNNN GIRL. Gods, take note to never put a cap on the future War Games rewards. Hestia just robbed him clean ahahahahahah!
But now that they officially have more than one member (besides Bell), and have taken over Apollo’s estate, Hestia has finally created a proper emblem for their familia: A bell with a Flame, and it’s the sweetest thing ever. Her heart burns for you Bell!
…I’ll see myself out.
Last but not least, besides Freya’s lucky pendant probably saving Bell’s life, the other reason why Apollo’s familia lost this War Game was because NOBODY LISTENED TO CASSANDRA. THIS GIRL IS ENTITLED TO SHOUT TO THE WORLD: “I TRIED TO TELL YOU!” She has tried to warn them countless times, starting with Lili sneaking inside. Sure she didn’t explain it well, but what difference does it make when foolishly, nobody took her seriously.
Well, you reap what you sow.
Hello! Hey Eve,
You won’t mind if I drop my own thoughts on this comment line.
Many people, on my streaming site, agree with you, that things were a bit disappointing; dealing with Bell’s part of the battle.
But I have a different take.
This episode made absolutely clear, the story is about the Familia. The Hestia Familia, once just two plus friends, are now all unified, all friends. All this, as consequence of Apollo over-playing his position.
Hestia, while negotiating the terms of the War Game (with friends), also established the overall plan, to take control of the palace grounds, and set up a controlled condition for Bell to have it out with Hyakinthos. Preparations were not many, but had to be set into place exactly on schedule.
But look at the artistry used, to flummox not only the watchers, but the Apollo Familia. Utter and complete confusion, driven by high-speed chaos. Some of this caught me completely by surprise.
Welf Crozzo, now part of the Hestia Familia, did something he was generally against. He built not one, but two; first rate magical swords, in preparations for the initial attacks.
This initial attack was a two part’r, that required Ryuu, using these swords, to tie down and damage as much of the Apollo teams as possible. Upon proper establishment of utter chaos outside the palace and breaching the massive wall at that point, Mikoto raced inside to deliver her unique ‘package’, and maintain it for several minutes.
Lili was already inside, having disguised herself as Luan, to increase the level of panic and unease. And, at the proper time, raise the palace portcullis, to allow clean entry by Bell and his cover, Welf Crozzo.
Welf then held things down, while Bell Cranel literally blew the floor out from under Hyakinthos and his retainers. Most of which were by this time in utter panic.
Now the real battle could begin, between Bell and Hyakinthos. Hyakinthos was nothing short of brilliant in his attacks, using weapons we had not seen. He was, after all, a level-3 adventurer; and a credit to his Familia.
But Bell played him beautifully. He fought well, but allowed himself to be hurt, fairly severely. He had to convince Hyakinthos that the game was over, only to deliver the ‘coup de grace’.
Aiz Wallenstein watched with baited breath, and was at first afraid for her friend. But while everyone else was running around in panic, as Bell did the one thing he never did, Aiz became much more relaxed.
She knew all was well. Bell dropped his knife, in order to place Hyakinthos in what appeared to be within easy victory; which Bell used efficiently to crush this young fellow unconscious.
The Seer was absolutely right, Eve, your comments were spot on. Nobody in the Apollo Familia took the Seer seriously. A fatal breach, that Hestia Familia marched right through and used to defeat Apollo and his Familia.
After all was over, Hestia and her Familia was declared the winner. Hestia was so mad at that baffoon Apollo, she almost couldn’t speak the words that dictated what she wanted from him. Apollo would never darken Orario again, after liquidating everything of value and/or handing it all over to Hestia… forever. And of course making his entire Familia free-agents.
Maybe the Seer might join Hestia’s Familia. I think she might enjoy that after the absolute waxing Apollo took after even she didn’t like what they did to Hestia and company.
This of course, included the largest palace in the province, would belong to Hestia. Even she didn’t see this coming, but it did! It replaces her old digs, destroyed by the Apollo Familia, for no reason whatsoever.
—-
But in the end, the real winner after all was over… is Freya. She pushed Apollo into this trainwreck, she seeded her gift in order to protect Bell, and she got to destroy one of those people that needed taking down. All delicious for Freya, in every way.
All she needed to do, was step back and let Hestia and her Familia bask in the limelight alone. Something Freya was big enough to allow.
At least for awhile.
Like I said, I like politics, even in anime. In the end, the whole episode was a kind of devilish politics. Hestia is now elevated to heights she never thought she’d know. Apollo won’t show his face anywhere, for years. And the Apollo Familia is smashed for good.
Orario will be a somewhat different place, in the future. And in the end, good triumphed over evil.
With this, Vol 6’s been fully covered. Onwards to Vol 7! (Btw, do you read the source novels?)
Fun fact – the actual Cassandra of Greek myth was cursed by Apollo to have accurate prophecies, but no one would ever believe her.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra
Also, I did some spoiler research on why Soma was so negligent towards his Familia.
Spoiler
He’s suffering from bitter disillusionment + apathy towards the whole familia setup. Because of how perfect god wine is, the masses can’t handle it. His followers largely join out of personal greed/getting a wine fix; they’ve no real loyalty to him and largely take advantage of his name. He’s long since given up on the familia and lets it rot; choosing to bury himself in his brewing (the main reason he descended). Also, Lili had a previous taste of the wine during an early initiation that left her addicted for months. Her resisting it this time around is something brand new for Soma to take notice.
Yup I read the novels, but it’s been so long and I’m actually behind because I have a habit of stock-piling my volumes so I can binge-read through a bunch (a habit I developed when I first started collecting Spice and Wolf hahaha!).
What a clever use of the lore, and using it as a karma of a sorts that led to Apollo’s Familia’s downfall! Absolutely brilliant.
That’s really sad about Souma, but it also makes a lot of sense 🙁