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In which a serious shitload of stuff happened.
It’s a good thing Shingeki no Bahamut is finishing up a week later than most of the competition, because I don’t see how this many loose ends could possibly be tied up in a single episode. It’s a colossal mess that involves pretty much everyone in that cast, with no easy answers immediately presenting s. And the task of saving the day may just have fallen on the unlikeliest of trios (well, quartets) – certainly one I would never have imagined getting together to fight the good fight.
Let’s start with Jeanne, who seems to be an integral part of Martinet’s plans to revive Bahamut. She’s about to be burned at the stake by the idiot king, but all of that seems to have been a pretext to get to the important part of Martinet’s plan – to have her swallow his magic potion, which turns her into a demon (seemingly). There’s a very interesting moment when she has a vision as the flames dance around her, and a ghostly Angel of flame tells her that her sacrifice is a tool to revive Zeus (who if you recall, cooperated with Satan to sacrifice themselves in sealing Bahamut) and that Angels don’t give a damn about the welfare of humans.
Lots of interesting stuff to ponder there, especially given the Zeus connection. But for now Jeanne turns into Dark Jeanne and zooms off, her corrupted holy sword in hand. Meanwhile Rita has escaped from Martinet – maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention, but I’m not exactly sure how – and crosses paths with Bacchus, who’s strolled into town just in time for the bonfire. He tells her of a legendary bounty who had a spell which could do what Rita saw happen to Jeanne (the fact that Martinet could be a bounty seems like information that wasn’t inserted coincidentally).
And then things get really interesting, when Bacchus’ wagon runs over Azazel (“The Devil’s luck” my ass – this one seems cursed). By now the nature of what’s really happening has become clear – Martinet is working on behalf of Beelzebub, who has intentions of apparently using Bahamut to rule the world (though how he plans to control him I don’t know). That gives Azazel a common interest with Rita, and an unlikely new team seems to have formed – though for how long this mismatched partnership can hold together I wouldn’t want to guess.
The big headlines, though, come with team Amira. They think they’ve reached Prudisia, but in fact it’s actually Helheim – and they’ve been dancing to Martinet’s tune from the beginning. This is hardest on Amira, of course, whose entire existence is revealed to have been planned by Martinet, and whose memories were planted by him (does this mean Lavalley – conspicuously absent this week – was a baddie after all?). As such, not only is her mother not really her mother, but in a sense Beelzebub is her “father” – and she’s a being created specifically as a vessel for the Demon Key. Nichole is thus quite horrified to see her “daughter”, and Amira taking Favaro’s advice and giving her a hug is the worst possible plan. Though you know that’s exactly what Amira is going to do…
It’s a rather sad moment, this – Amira’s breakdown is genuinely childlike – but in purely practical terms she’s at the center of the maelstrom now. Favaro’s transparent subterfuge doesn’t fool Martinet, and when he tries to fight back Martinet French-kisses another demon potion down his throat, seemingly turning Favaro into a real demon at last, after carrying that show tail around for most of the series. It all seems to rest on Rita, Bacchus and Azazel (and perhaps by implication Lucifer) now, though one suspects Kaisar is going to find a way to be relevant – maybe the bounty angle, as he still has his bracelet – and demon or no, it seems likely Favaro is going to be the one to land the big blow when the shit really hits the fan. He has the claw, after all.
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Felix Barrios
December 16, 2014 at 4:24 pmOh Shingeki No Bahamut, feels like a 3 hour anime movie, and Im not even mad! Why is it that the Angels, the messenger of God and bla bla, always seems to be bad guys in TV series, movies, animes or whatever media they're in? haha is funny. looking forward to Favaro and lucifer, azazel and cia shitstorming the place all over in the final episodes.
Edgar Pinho
December 16, 2014 at 5:52 pmGaurdian Enzo: Rita manages to escpae because she uses her necromancer powers on all the animals in the lab, including the ones in jars and that huge fish spine on the wall, ordering them to attack Martinet, managing to get away of there while he fights them.
Also i thought that the fire images of the angel's where Martinet's temptation in effect, that really seems like something a demon(?) would say :p
posted by Kiritsugu
Kurik
December 16, 2014 at 7:36 pmagree with you on both accounts. Pity its only one episode left…i have so few interesting anime to watch for the next month or so…sigh.
admin
December 17, 2014 at 1:33 amTwo episodes left.
I got that she was using her necromancer powers, but it seemed like the scene cut away before we saw how much trouble they were really giving Martinet.
Also, I'm not convinced those fire images were illusions. It could be, but I'm not 100% convinced because it's not out of character for the Angels we've seen. Plus, why would Martinet drop in that Zeus line?
IreneSharda
December 17, 2014 at 8:05 amIt would be WAY too convenient that Martinet's vision just so happened to appear right after she saw the "angels" vision. Also, he speaks of the fact that she should give in now that she's seen the "truth". Martinet has been shown to be an excellent manipulator and liar, with having multiple humans and demons dancing to his tune. It would make sense that if he's trying to turn Jeanne against the gods, he would have to give her some sort of plausible reason that she would suspect them, even if it's completely not true, at her moment of weakness, it might seem true.
Think about it. If the angels really wanted the do what the visions suggested, they had several times that could have taken Amira into their keeping. Also, for them, it would make a whole lot more sense for them to keep Jeanne alive, since she was completely loyal to them and did whatever was asked of her. Also, perhaps if any of the angels may be up to anything it would be Gabriel, but other than her, all the other angels seem to be completely concentrating on their duty of stopping Bahamut. Michael especially seems to be one humans and Jeanne's side, and lends his power to her all the time. He also admires her, even when he's talking to himself. So, no, I put no stock into those visions, other than as hallucinations that Martinet used to break down Jeanne's walls. He's been setting this up since the beginning, baiting Azazel into attacking the kingdom, allowing him to get in during the chaos. He tricks our heroes with the false map and false memories into leaving the castle in order to find Amira's "mother". He then poisons the king and uses illusions to gradually turn him against Jeanne. He frames Jeanne for murder and possible regicide, and then played the first part of trying to tempt her while in prison. He then finishes this, by turning the king even against his people, and doing his coup de grace, while Jeanne is at her lowest, by making it seem that the gods have abandoned her and the people despite them actually risking their lives in trying to stop Bahamut, and thus he give her the potion that allows her to turn dark.
I have a feeling that perhaps he and Beelzebub need the darkened sword that she has to use with Bahamut like in the OP, but we'll see.
Sauce
December 18, 2014 at 6:32 amWell my reply just got deleted and I don't feel like writing it all out again so I'll keep it short. I think Martinet was behind the illusion, but I don't think he was lying. The angels spoke of Jeanne being a vessel in episode 6, and it didn't seem to be in a necessarily good way? Then also the way they've portrayed the relationship/way Jeanne and the angels talk about each other seems like more is going to happen than them just giving her powers to be cool.
Eternia
December 17, 2014 at 2:52 amConsidering that the angels didn't even help in guarding the city, I guess they are bad guys / selfish guys after all, and not just another trick by Martinet.
IreneSharda
December 17, 2014 at 7:48 amThe "angels" that Jeanne saw, were a manipulation trick by Martinet. Jeanne was one tough nut to crack, and so he had to prey on her at her weakest moment. And well, considering that the angels ranks have been pulled really thin all over the place, what will most of the heavenly forces keeping up the force field around Bahamut, and the others preparing for war and invasion by the demons. They asked the humans to do one thing, and that was to protect one girl, that was it. It's not their fault they couldn't even do that. 😛
Flaiboy
December 18, 2014 at 6:19 amDitto, Irene. My thoughts exactly.