[Tempest35]

On the contrary, I got a GOOD feeling about Issa. That smile at Kokoa's little break-through (and Gyokuro's little WTF face) was very telling in the mood. It only makes sense if Issa was doing all of this all on his own.

Spoiler for Thoughts on Issa:

My guess is that Issa has subverted himself beneath Gyokuro to allow himself time to formulate a plan to not only protect Moka, but to get Akasha back as well. I think it's obvious that he favors Akasha over Gyokuro any day of the week and with Gyokuro's plan to resurect Alucard also comes the chance to get Akasha out of him/it, right? So he's letting the woman run amok for now. Risky as all hell but he knew that if Alucard awoke again, the other 2 Dark Lords will show up, one way or the other.

If Issa is going down this path, this is great. He's probably thinking that he'll need Akasha's strength to take down the Masked King so he looked at the big picture and abicated the head position to his wife. If one is not in the spotlight, then one can move around easier.

It would be nice if Issa chose this to shove one up Gyokuro's since he's got Moka back.

I'm hoping that this is true, I'd hate him even worse than I hate Gyokuro if he's doing this with no thought of getting Akasha out of Alucard, or even protecting Moka to some degree.

And wow, I really REALLY wanted to punch Gyokuro. You just don't DO that to your own daughters...! Usually, I'm the one who likes to save all the pretty girls, regardless of their moral standing but Gyokuro just wiped all setiment off with that.