Well, it's all over but the subbing...
Spoiler for Episode 50 w/o subs:
I saw a review posted online this morning by someone who was disappointed in the "happily ever after" ending, and by the fact that the big battle essentially disappears after Lilan rescues Erin. Personally, though, neither one of those points bothered me.
I knew Erin wasn't going to die. First of all, there are two more books to her story. Second, no children's show is going to kill off its main character at the end of a fifty-episode run. And third, as I said before, Erin is pretty darn tough, having already survived two attacks from Lilan during her life.
As for the battle, presumably once Damiya was dead, Seimiya and Shunan were able to restore some sense of order - that is, if Lilan swooping in and rescuing Erin hadn't already broken up the fight. I'm guessing that once we get a translation, things will become clearer. But it doesn't really matter - this series was never about thrones and kingdoms and battles. Those were party of the storyline, yes, but only as far as they served the larger theme of Erin and her relationship with the beasts that she loves. That's what this show was really about, and it resolved that storyline very well. Ultimately, Erin didn't find her answers on her own. She needed Lilan's help, because the answer lies in their relationship, not in either one individually.
As for Erin's son, they don't say that he's Ial's, but he looks kind of like a young Ial, doesn't he?
Two questions - First, it was good to see Kirik at the end, but what was he doing? And second, what was that promo for at the end of the episode? Some kind of recap episode coming up in a couple of weeks?
One more thing - I've loved the "native mythological art work" that we've seen throughout the series, and I thought it was especially great during the final credits, where we see that Erin's deeds have been woven into the kingdom's legends.
And lastly, a question about the apple symbolism that has appeared throughout the series. They said that Erin's name means "wild apple." However, in Western mythology, the apple represents "forbidden knowledge" - as in the Garden of Eden and all that. Would a Japanese audience see it that way, too?