This was a very action heavy episode and while the animation was nothing to sneeze at, it was still pretty well done and made me very hyped. There are three, erm, four battles going on and each one carries a certain level of emotional strife. A lot was going on all at once and it’s honestly nice to see them beginning to overcome each of their obstacles.
We find out that Doc isn’t the only one inside the armor as it seems like he took a bunch of memory stones into it with him to hide. Still mildly annoyed that so much of that happened off screen, but whatever. It was honestly hilarious how all of those memory stones of past Sorcerer Knights kept taking control of the armor to “fight for justice” despite Doc’s wishes to escape the battle. It provided some nice levity in such a heavy situation and it was just funny watching the armor go through a bit of an identity crisis as it constantly switched between all of the personalities in those memory stones. I do wish that they built up the armor a little first or at least showed it before it appeared like this… Unless I completely missed it.
As Doc and the stones go aid the Queen, Seth is left to face Santori alone. We learn that Santori has fought several other of Seth’s “brothers,” whom Santori had mistaken them all as just one person. Which makes sense since no infected would be the same. Not to mention they all kind of look like each other, so it’s and understandable mistake. No wonder they were trying to seek out the “horned sorcerer” so desperately. Seems like Seth’s brothers have been causing the Inquisition quite a bit of trouble for a while. Enough for it to warrant Torque’s priority in capturing them. Though considering what they are capable of, it makes sense.
In any case, the armor proved to be a rather helpful ally as it helped Seth against the old man in the beginning and also aided Brangoire in defending the Queen. Good to see Brangoire is still hanging in there and being USEFUL. Unlike a bunch of the other head sorcerer knights. He’s missing a leg and he’s still putting up a formidable fight against a bunch of Inquisition members. Though I admit he was a LITTLE slow in warning the armor about the child Thaumaturge. At least he warned him in time before the little brat turned them all into stone.
It also seems like Doc will have to step up a little more in this fight as the Memory Stones are very one track minded so it’s up to him to come up with plans. And I admit I laughed a lot harder than I should have when he started putting all of the stones into his mouth to get their attention. I lost it even harder when the stones started freaking out over Doc accidentally swallowing one of them. I don’t know what it was, but them screaming about that just made me die. It was rather annoying for Doc to be constantly saying they needed to run away. Though I suppose it’s understandable to be off the battlefield when you have the body of a small child… in Doc’s case at least. However, he seems to understand the situation and is putting forth his intelligence to aid the knights in their battle against the small child.
Santori ends up being more formidable than I expected. While we had already seen his blessing ability, this was the first time we actually saw him go on the offensive like this. He’s a lot more physically fit than I expected lol. Wasn’t expecting that. However, what makes him pretty dang crazy and dangerous as he loves the thrill of battle. He even went on to talk about how he had the most fun fighting Seth and his “brothers.” And even when Seth finally sets off the spectre nemesis, when ends up being Diabal, Santori was still able to best it. While I appreciate Diabal pitching in to help… it was rather anticlimactic and was a very short lived assist.
I also wanted to touch on just how great Ocoho is real quick. Despite Ocoho’s hatred towards Mordred at the moment, she still gets angry on his behalf when his father sees the wood of his ship having more value than his own son and calling him a puppet. It just goes to show that despite everything, Ocoho still retains some care for Mordred and can’t stand how his father treats him. It just makes me love Ocoho even more. She’s such a great character.
Just watching the Thaumaturges constantly talking down to the infected has always been INFURIATING. Saying things like how they should be thankful they will be taken cared of like slaves and that they are basically less than human. It makes me so mad to hear things like that, especially since it was literally out of their control to become infected in the first place. Even more infuriating when Santori claims that he must protect the people from the sorcerers. Though it definitely is a thinly covered excuse for his love of fighting tough and formidable opponents. Seth definitely points out the hypocrisy in those words that despite him “protecting people”, he is also causing fear to the infected. Because like it or not, infected are still people.
Out of all the face offs, Melie’s had to be my favorite because she probably had the most powerful lines in this entire episode. She rebutted every single one of Liselotte’s points because seriously, Liselotte feels so blinded by her views that she just can’t seem to understand how much the infected have had to suffer because of them. Who would want to willingly become a slave to the people who have hunted and persecuted them? I just absolutely love how Melie describes the infected as SURVIVORS. And it’s very true. They became infected because they survived a Nemesis attack. It’s honestly the perfect description of them. That statement had such power behind it that I couldn’t help but applaud her for that.
But man, it felt so SATISFYING to see Seth use his newfound ability to create to trap Santori and then blast him into the sky while yelling that he’s human. I’m not sure if that was death or not, but I assume it was. Though I won’t be surprised if he shows up later covered in casts and bandages. We finally get satisfying punch in against the Thaumaturges and it was well worth the wait because Santori had to be one of the most annoying ones out of the lot. I am eager to see the aftermath of the Melie vs Liselotte fight since her views were super frustrating as well. I hope that Melie’s words got through to her, even just a little bit.
Honestly, the song choice for everyone starting to strike back against their enemies was… strange. It didn’t quite match to the emotional peaks of the characters and just overall felt out of place. If they had the right song, I’m sure it would have made these consecutive moments all the more powerful. Unfortunately, the music/song chosen just wasn’t quite right. I do appreciate the effort in trying to pull out the emotion from all three battles though. It reminded me a lot of how so many things were going on at once during the climbing climax of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, though not as smooth in the transitions. And while the moment was cliche as heck with all three heroes screaming that they’re not anything less than just a regular human, I still enjoyed them all basically obliterating their foes.
While this was a very exciting episode, a lot of the cuts and transitions were a bit messy and a little hard to follow. Though no where near as TERRIBLE as episode 15, so I guess I can’t complain too much? But man, them all screaming how they’re all human felt so powerful. All of their lives they have been looked down on by everyone around them, basically telling them they aren’t human. It was just so satisfying to stamp their feet into the ground and proclaim they are survivors and human alike. Because HECK YEAH THEY ARE.
