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My view on Flame Hazes vs. Tomogara are that the two sides have been fighting each other for soooo long that it's become like the Hatfields vs. the McCoys writ large.
This is where I think Sophie, Shana, and the other Flame Hazes should really stop and ask themselves "Am I really making the right decision in choosing to fight against Snake of the Festival and the Tomogara? Am I doing this because it's the right thing to do, or am I doing this because fighting tomogara is now all I know, and I can't break the habit?"
OTOH, it's not as if the Tomogara are trying to enter into peace negotiations with the Flame Hazes. They mercilessly and relentlessly hunted down the desperately fleeing Flame Hazes, even when they had them badly beat. They came across as decidedly bloodthirsty. So, again, it's the Hatfields vs. the McCoys, for both sides.
Honestly, it's very hard to see how Snake of the Festival can be stopped. I mean, Sydonay now seems practically invincible, and Snake of the Festival would have to at least be on par with him. Then there's Hecate and Bel Peol. The impression I took from the first two seasons of Shana was that Shana, Wilhelmina, and Margery Daw were each close to even matches for each of Hecate, Sydonay, and Bel Peol, but that certainly doesn't appear to be the case any more. Unless Sophie has some grand trump card up her sleeve, her side of the war now seems hopelessly outmatched. That is a concern I have going forward (as an eight-episode curbstomp could get old fast) but I'm going to trust that the narrative will find a way to even the odds again.
The action scenes of Episode 15 were truly excellent, and I was impressed at how good a job the episode did in handling a large protagonist cast without it feeling like anybody was shafted screen time-wise or development-wise. Margery Daw's dramatic return couldn't have been executed any better, and that was loads of fun to watch. The pacing was also just about perfect.
However, there are certain chinks in the plot armor (mainly ones that I've already touched on) that I saw in this episode that I didn't see in the last, so I take off one mark to give Episode 15 9/10.
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