[C.A.]

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

Spoiler for Aleida:

I think you do have a good point here. I may have rushed into conclusion on Aleida being the mother, since the only time this was suggested was by Nami, who was going through an traumatizing experience. After rechecking ep11, I found that Aleida didn't reveal her face to Nami throughout that whole scene. Interesting.

Although one could argue otherwise: Akiha being very young when she was separated from her mother; Aleida only acquired her fighting styles after her "conversion" etc.

This indeed make one appreciate the mystery surrounding Aleida. She is a Kagura-look-alike. That much is confirmed. If Aleida is indeed the brainwashed Kagura, then no doubt she would still have deep connection (via blood or not) with the Shishito sisters. Why would she appear in Akiha's dream otherwise? It still makes the Vader comparison valid, Aleida being the hope of the world that has fallen to be the right hand side of the dark side.

On the other hand, Aleida may as well be a Kagura clone. What is a better way to plant the seed of the doubt, fear and confusion into your enemies than letting them to fight their former leader?

Unless much more are revealed, we just don't know, do we?

To add one more confusing point, was Aleida able to enter Akiha's dreams, or was showing her face to Akiha just incidental?

I had a theory about Akiha's dreams though not much:

Spoiler:

Kagura may only appear to Akiha when Aleida is in the vicinity, her QT some how gets to Akiha and appears to her in her dream.

In this episode, Aleida is in space and Akiha is on Earth, that could be why she doesn't have a dream sequence.

It may be some kind of 'QT-resonance' or something.

What Kagura tells Akiha has always been something of relevance to what she's about to do or encounter. But it never seems to provide any real help.

We really don't know if Aleida and Kagura are the same or whether they are separate. We had many theories about her but they all don't add up fully.

Do visit the speculation thread, it has no spoilers beyond what was shown in the anime.