Every gothic fantasy school comedy needs a smarmy 400 year-old adolescent, I suppose.  That’s the role Rael, briefly introduced last week, seems to have slotted into.  As promised he heads to Japan to bring Seira back to Lukedonia with the blessing of the new Lord, but Rael has ulterior motives.  There are few bombshells dropped here, not least of which is that Regis is 199 years old (and half Rael’s age at that), and that Rael proposed to Seira at some point in the past.  Obviously, she declined.

That refusal seems to have set up much of the conflict driving the current arc (which I’m guessing will finish the season).  Rael’s tirade afterwards caused his older brother Ragar to imprison him for ten years, a term which only just expired.  And there are hints that the previous head of the Kertia Clan may have favored his younger son to succeed him, as Rael has something – a soul weapon – which only a clean head should in theory have.  Even without it the modifieds are certainly no match for him – he seriously wounds M-21 as an afterthought – and even Regis seems hopelessly overmatched.

Rael’s whispered thread to make Seira “sad” certainly seems to have worried her.  And indeed, Frankenstein argues that the full-blooded elder could even pose a threat to Rai himself.  That prompts Rai to unseal Frankie’s powers, and the Dark Spear makes its first appearance in the current timeline.  Frankenstein unbound can seemingly handle even Rael, but there’s the issue of collateral damage.  In any event once it becomes clear to Rael that his charms are not going to win Seira over, he plays the trump card he seriously didn’t want to play – a summons from the Lord for Seira to return.  I’m sure that will give him very little satisfaction.

It seems as if the story is going to follow Rai and Frankenstein back Lukedonia, as with Gejutel in serious trouble for protecting him Rai rightly feels a sense of responsibility.  It’s kind of a shame to see Noblesse end in this mode, as I still don’t find it as rewarding as the more whimsical school material.  But it was probably inevitable with a long manhwa being condensed into a single-cour anime – these sorts of shows always seem to end on a “serious” note.