That ending... whoa. Waking from that hospital bed with only one thing on his mind: Asuna. The way they conveyed that was really, really powerful to me. The entire ED with him walking slowly down the hallway clutching the IV -- really, really powerful ending. And then with the next episode title of "return"... the story isn't over yet. Indeed, as I said earlier, this isn't a story about clearing the game. It's a story about Kirito and Asuna. Since both Kirito and Asuna were congratulated for clearing the game, and he's alive, that means she is too. Time to find her.
Kirito's "last moment" in the game was played a bit "trickily" in the anime. At first you think he just disappears, but then they do the effect and you understand that that was just his imagination of how he'd die, and that he hasn't actually disappeared yet. I'm not exactly sure what it was supposed to mean that Kayaba was suprised that Kirito was still able to move Asuna's sword in his "pre-disappearance" state... Kirito was somehow holding his existance in the world?
I think Kayaba's comment after Asuna sacrificed herself -- like "I didn't program it that way... I guess these things happen..." was obviously a ruse. I think Kayaba wanted to give himself a dramatic ending (just like he had planned the "story" all along), hence he caused Asuna's paralysis to be able to wear off. His total lack of emotion during the whole thing is of course fitting the one responsible for this mess in the first place
Anyway, other than all that... a lot of outstanding plot threads were closed this week as well. We get a clear explanation of why Kirito got the dual wield ability, which also points to his sort of "destiny" (appointed by Kayaba) as a hero in the game. And they also clear up some loose ends with Egil and Klein, and of course provide some explanation about why this whole world was setup in the first place. And also, Heathcliff's revelation as an "Immortal Object" tied back perfectly to the revelation in Episode 12, so again a case of every previous story contributing something to the on-going plot.
All in all, I'm quite satisfied with this episode and the whole arc. I think that it will hold up very well on a rewatch, because there are so many little details exposed early on that come back to be important later. In that sense, I can appreciate some of the frustration the novel readers must have had watching anime viewers try to figure it out each week, because things seem so obvious in retrospect (but didn't seem at all clear at the time).
Anyway, I think I will watch again and see what other details I missed.