AHHH I HATE THAT THEY ENDED IT THERE!!!!!! There wasn’t a whole lot that happened this week apart from setting the escort mission into motion, so just when things were starting to ramp up, it was a bit frustrating to see it end there. But that’s cliffhangers for you, and it sure as hell going to make you want to tune in for the next one!
Much to my surprise, so far Fel’s plans have been going relatively smoothly up until Gareth found them, resulting Wiene getting separated from the group. With Hermes’ ominous warning about Finn’s intelligence, I kind of expected things to be a bit tougher from the get-go, but I don’t mind being wrong about that. Finn hasn’t made any major moves just yet. He had been consistently sticking to plan of ignoring Bell (who he knows is the decoy) and focusing on the others. However since they have been able to outwit him by creating chaos and confusion, now we are about to see just how smart he actually is. In fact I would argue it is more dangerous to underestimate how quickly he is able to adapt to the new developments, and connect the dots to narrow down their possible location. He has already figured out there must be a door that he did not know about, so the next course of actions are likely to turn to the focus on the areas he was previously overlooking.
But they wouldn’t have been able to build this advantage without Lili. Out of everyone, I would say Lili has the most difficult and riskiest job with constantly impersonating as either the Xenos for distractions, or pull off pretending to be someone else such as Finn to create chaos and confusion. Although I have to admit, I am a bit surprised that Finn wasn’t aware of Lili’s powers, as I figured for a smart guy like him, he’d have the foresight to have some sort of background check on Hestia Familia. Or maybe he just straight up underestimated them since they are vastly outnumbered. Who knows… But either way, this does help level things out since they needed a curve-ball to help outwit him and buy time before he could adapt to the changes in his plans. And really, that’s what this escort mission is really coming down to is stalling the enemy.
As such, this was probably one of the worst times for Fel’s plans to be thrown out of whack. Now adjustments have to be made on the spur of the moment with both Haruhime (who was previously stationed with Hestia to help keep track of everyone), and Bell (who is supposed to serve as the decoy) are now rushing to Wiene’s aid. Obviously there wasn’t time to even think about who would be the best person to go and find her, especially when Wiene already happened to come across Tiona.
Gosh, the moment Haruhime dropped everything to rush to Wiene’s aid, and Hestia gave Bell the update, I almost shed a tear thinking, “MOMMY AND DADDY COMING FOR YOU WIENE!” You can’t tell me Haruhime and Bell aren’t like her parents, they treat her like she is their daughter and it’s the wholesome content I live for!
Though with all things considered: I have to say, out of all the people Wiene could have encountered, despite how strong Tiona is, she may actually be the best choice. Tiona has shown us she can be somewhat more merciful towards weaker monsters, such as the Xenos rabbit. So she might have some wiggle room to hear her out if Wiene were to try, but I’m not holding my breath for it because she probably won’t. On top of that, Wiene may not feel it’s worth trying to speak with her after the traumatic experience Dix put her through. Nevertheless, it would be a nice surprise if Wiene were to try, and Tiona were to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Overall while not a whole lot happened, this episode was still fun to watch. Ais insisted to be the one to keep an eye on Bell and I couldn’t stop laughing at her confusion of all the ladies (Naza, Aisha, Ryu and Eina) all approaching him in the alley. Naza really saved Bell because he was already freaking out about being found by Ais. She was able to cool him down and carry out the exchange with one of Fel’s magic stuff, confirming she and Miach will be helping out. Aisha and Ryu seemed to just drop by purely to let him know they got his back. We later see Ryu and Ais duke it out to throw Ais off of Bell’s trail. (It’s a shame we won’t be able to see that fight play out. It probably would have been fun to watch!) Out of all them, Eina was the most hilarious with her tempter exploding from the frustration of having not heard from Bell for a week after she had slapped him. The way she screamed at Hermes and spooked him was absolutely amazing. I do wonder what that bracelet’s purpose was supposed to be for though. Hermes put it on her under the pretense to give it to Bell. However it turns out she couldn’t get it off when she tried to, so I wonder what’s that is supposed to be all about.
But it wasn’t just between Hestia Familia and Loki Familia, we saw a tease of development on Freya’s side as well. No surprise there, considering she is hardly the one to sit around and do nothing when there are matters that pipe her curiosity. She has sent Ottarl out into the field, probably to either fetch Asterius or withdraw him from the prison if they had ended up capturing him after-all. Rei mentioned Asterius didn’t get back to her when they announced starting the mission, suggesting he is either hiding or captured. We did see him in a prison-like place, so honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if he is in Freya’s hands. There’s no way in hell she would ignore the Minotaur who feels all too familiar to her.
I suppose the last thing that’s pressing my mind is what is going to become of Hestia’s position now that Haruhime has left her on her own. To begin with, their location was already stressing me out because it felt like these two were sitting ducks just waiting to be found. It would be rather problematic if Finn had or decides to send someone out to scout them out because there really isn’t much either one, much less Hestia could do to protect and hide the map and blueprints they are using to carry out their escort operation.
Anyhow I am really excited for next week! 😀 See you then!
