I also think the episode existed for two main reasons.
1. To recap.
2. To introduce the guy Kirito was talking with... after all the episode ended with Kirito getting a phone-call by that guy from the government (and he didn't answer it yet)... He also told Kirito that he'd see him again.
Well, since season 2 was just announced, it seems pretty obvious that things will pick up where they left off at the end of that special with the phone call... (though Kirito could just ignore him for a bit
)