Oh god, oh god, oh god! The story just escalated in a way I wasn’t mentally prepared for. Justifiably making me pause the scene while yelling , “OH FUCK. SHIT SHIT SHIT!” I actually needed a moment to process it because shit. It the first episode, it did fleetingly cross my mind that this story is taking place during World War I time frame, but then I kinda forgot about it. So I don’t think many of us were really mentally prepared for the story to go in this direction, especially as suddenly as it did.
The reason why Kit disappeared without a word because his father had tragically passed. It’s really heartbreaking to see how both Kit and Richard lost their parents so early on. You could tell they were lovely parents, who instilled a great set of values into their sons, using their privilege to uplift and take care of their people. It was also incredibly sweet, to see Kit has really taken after his father, not just as an artist, but even old habits, like offering a bread covered in charcoal to the person who ends up being someone they’ve fallen in love with.
As if his father’s death wasn’t bad enough, Richard finally tells Kit there’s far greater threats in the horizons. Now we understand why Richard was behaving the way he has been all this time. I certainly owe an apology to the guy, I was definitely too hard on him. He’s been working hard behind the scenes to fulfill his father’s role as a diplomat in attempt to put out the flames of war before they get out of control.
Kit didn’t need any further explanation his brother told him, “A storm of steel and gunpowder is bearing down on England.” And his immediate horrified reaction spoke volumes of understanding what’s at stake here. Kit knew in that very moment, he must step into a role he never wanted, but knows better that this is not longer a choice, but a necessity, even when it means giving up pursuing a path of the arts.
It didn’t matter that Richard was generous enough to offer him a way out, telling him he wouldn’t stop him from renouncing his nobility. Kit understands now more than ever of his mother’s teachings, of how as aristocrats, it’s their job to protect the common people’s way of life. The idea of the country being cast into war is a terrifying thing, and Kit undoubtedly knows the risk this entails. That’s probably why he wants to do one last piece, and pour every fibre of his being into it, because he knows when this war does come, there’s a high chance he may not emerge unscathed or even alive.
I can understand why Kit doesn’t want to tell Lili what’s going on, let alone confess his feelings. Besides the fact this is technically confidential information, he also doesn’t want to worry her. He wasn’t lying about his reasons why withdrawing from school to throw everything he has into this one art-piece, but he also left out the fact why he’d be withdrawing altogether. It’s all the more reason why he urged Lili to pursue her dreams, and stay keep walking straight, even it’s the long way around. He believes that Lili will be able to create wondrous paintings that will move the hearts of people all over the world.
Yet as wonderful as those words were, Lili could tell something was terribly amiss, something he wasn’t telling her. She could feel it in her gut, if she didn’t get him to make that pinkie-swear promise, he really might just disappear without a word.
Overall it goes without saying, this episode as a whole was the most sombre one yet. It makes me wonder how exactly the remaining of the story is going to unfold with just six episodes left. I haven’t thought too much about the time period of when this story is set, but it did cross my mind from time to time. But now it appears clear that it’s set in the period of the first World War, since referred to it as the “Great War”. We’ll have to see how this pans out. Needless to say, this episode was undoubtedly Kit’s biggest character growth, by choosing to follow his family’s foot-steps for the sake of others.
