Aldnoah.Zero - generic discussion thread

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Sute443

You do realize that complaining about how Asseylum's character hasn't been explained by the end of episode 3 is kind of like complaining about how the method for defeating the Nilokeras wasn't explained by the end of episode 2, right?

No, that's not what it's like.

It would instead be like if Trillram's mecha was strangely defeated somehow, and it's not explained how until next episode.

Sure, it's better to get an explanation at some point than none at all, but it's ideal if character actions aren't hard to make sense out of as they're happening. Just like it was easy to make sense out of the defeat of Trillram's mecha as it was happening, and we're not left going "huh?" until that's explained in Episode 4.

You're not going to get every bit of information you want right away. Sometimes you have to have a bit of patience.

3 episodes of anime is a significant stretch of total running time. It's not unreasonable to want to have a good sense of major characters/protagonists by this point in the anime.

Because every other Martian we've seen has been A) a member of the military, B) her attendant (who has probably been trained to be very concerned with whether or not the princess is behaving properly), C) an active member of a terrorist unit, or D) Rayet, who despite being the daughter of a Martian terrorist hasn't shown any signs of racism herself (possibly because she was raised on Earth).

There's a LOT of selection bias going on.

So is it your position that most civilian Martians aren't racist, and that it's only their military that's like that? That would be a bit strange itself, in my view.

Originally Posted by Esclair

Even if she was not a good ruler I don't see why the audience wouldn't like her.

Her status as a ruler, as a Princess, is hugely important to the narrative itself. This whole narrative is kicked off by her taking actions based on what she thinks is the best use of her Princess status.

So she's not a character that just happens to be a Princess, where your argument would make perfect sense. She's a character who's Princess status is crucial to the narrative, and crucial to her goals.

So naturally, how good a ruler or a Princess she is ought to factor in considerably to any good character evaluation of her. So if the writers want her to be likeable to most viewers then she should be presented as a generally admirable Princess/ruler, in my view.

Look up Officer Hugh Thompson,

Officer Hugh Thompson is only germane to this discussion if you can clearly demonstrate that he was completely non-conflicted (as the Princess appeared to be) in taking military action against his fellow American soldiers.

And I'm not going to do your own research work for you. It's your argument, so you can find and put up the pertinent information yourself.

Portraying them as medieval Lords/Emperors brings with it connotations of infighting between lords and power play between the King/Emperor and his subjects that was common for that period in history.

There hasn't been the slightest hint given that the Princess has any interest in any such supposed infighting.

You said you expected her to be a 'good ruler' because she's a Princess. Why?

I explained it above. It has nothing to do with stereotype Disney Princesses.

There's nothing regarding whether or not she might have been a good ruler. She doesn't even talk about it herself, aside from her dream of making peace with Earth.

Which is only possible because of her Princess status, and hence her Princess status is central to her and her character.

Your entire gripe with her character is that her actions are out of character assuming she's what's you consider to be a 'good ruler' but there's nothing in the show so far to suggest that those characteristics are part of her character.

I disagree. The way the show introduces her makes it crystal clear that her Princess status is highly important to the entire narrative, in multiple ways (even including the pretext for the war itself).

Edit: And besides, that's not my entire gripe with her. It's more than just what she did, it's also how she acted as she did it. ImperialKnight put it well... "2. She was totally compliant in assisting the group kill TrillRam. I mean she was literally "giggling" when she fired that Grenade launcher people I mean come on! "

[OkamiNoKaze]

I was right the princess did make a contract with a certain wily critter back in episode one, she just didn't become Mami.

seriously though I do wonder if the princess was trying to "Stay in character" as it were, and maintain her cover. She certainly seems be of the same stock as Star Wars royalty for sure.

Slaine at the end of the episode was awesome too.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Which is only possible because of her Princess status, and hence her Princess status is central to her and her character.




I disagree. The way the show introduces her makes it crystal clear that her Princess status is highly important to the entire narrative, in multiple ways (even including the pretext for the war itself).

Given how this war started and the conspiracy behind Princess Asseylum's "death", it's pretty obvious that she exercised little executive power in practice and left the majority of the politics to the Knights. She was a figurehead, and the Martians took advantage of that to start the war.

If she is approximately the same age as our Terran protagonist, then it's highly likely Asseylum couldn'thave exercised her power 15 years earlier either (when the Martians started their plans to conquer Earth), since she would have been a toddler back then.

It's easily possible that Asseylum inherited her position only because of her bloodline and ability to control the Aldnoah, not because she demonstrated her skill in diplomancy.

And given how sheltered she was, it's perfectly natural for her to side with Inaho. Even in the case that she assumed Earthlings attacked her double (and she had no evidence who the real culprit was), Trillram was attacking innocent civilians who were initially seeking shelter, not just armed soldiers. She should have no sentimental attachment to any of the Knights, while she witnessed firsthand what Inaho and his classmates had to go through.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

Given how this war started and the conspiracy behind Princess Asseylum's "death", it's pretty obvious that she exercised little executive power in practice and left the majority of the politics to the Knights.

No, that's not pretty obvious. The conspiracy behind her death could in fact suggest that some of the knights didn't like the way she wielded (or would wield) political power. For them, it could have conceivably been a 2-for-1 deal - Create a good pretext for war, and ensure that a person who's political outlook they're strongly opposed to won't succeed the throne.

If she is approximately the same age as our Terran protagonist, then it's highly likely Asseylum couldn't have exercised her power 15 years earlier either (when the Martians started their plans to conquer Earth), since she would have been a toddler back then.

Sure. That says nothing about how much power she has now, though.

It's easily possible that Asseylum inherited her position only because of her bloodline and ability to control the Aldnoah, not because she demonstrated her skill in diplomancy.

Sure. But that doesn't make her status as a Princess any less important. Her status as a Princess is crucially important to this narrative, to several plot points in this narrative, and to her main goal explained back in Episode 1. Her leading a good will tour would be pointless if she wasn't a Martian Princess.

And given how sheltered she was, it's perfectly natural for her to side with Inaho.

I strongly disagree, to the point I'm honestly baffled by your argument. A truly sheltered person should naturally be very uneasy in the company of complete and utter strangers in a place she's never been to before.

She should have no sentimental attachment to any of the Knights,

So you're saying she shouldn't have any sentimental attachment to her people? The next person in line to the Martian throne should have no sentimental attachment to Martians?

I could hardly disagree more!

[Benigmatica]

By the way, has anyone discussed about the succession to the throne at Vers Empire?

Assuming that they killed the princess (which is not) by the Knights, who will succeed after Emperor Rayregalia Vers Rayvers passed away?

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

No, that's not pretty obvious. The conspiracy behind her death could in fact suggest that some of the knights didn't like the way she wielded (or would wield) political power. For them, it could have conceivably been a 2-for-1 deal - Create a good pretext for war, and ensure that a person who's political outlook they're strongly opposed to won't succeed the throne.

Even in that case, the fact that the knights were able to declare war (and be sovereign over the people in each of their individual landing castles) suggests that the knights themselves have significant political power.

Your entire explanation for the conspiracy only reinforces the idea of how much power the knights hold: even after she was assumed to be dead, all of them were prepared to act immediately.

If the Princess's position was important to the chain of command, they would have had a stand-in or alternate successor to keep the Martian knights unified instead of acting independently.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Sure. That says nothing about how much power she has now, though.

The fact that she was left out of the loop concerning matters about the war (and how prepared the knights were for it) says plenty. If she was informed, she would have inferred the situation on Earth without having to ask Inaho.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Sure. But that doesn't make her status as a Princess any less important. Her status as a Princess is crucially important to this narrative, to several plot points in this narrative, and to her main goal explained back in Episode 1. Her leading a good will tour would be pointless if she wasn't a Martian Princess.

When did I ever say the Princess was unimportant? I have been asserting that it's her position as the princess that has been important throughout this show, and that her importance as an individual as been insignificant in comparison.

The show made it clear that the Martian knights had little, if any expectations toward Asseylum's efforts to make peace and were more than ready to go to war.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I strongly disagree, to the point I'm honestly baffled by your argument. A truly sheltered person should naturally be very uneasy in the company of complete and utter strangers in a place she's never been to before.

You're adding an additional assumption that all sheltered people are untrusting of others without being gullible at all. She was sheltered, not a hikikomori.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

So you're saying she shouldn't have any sentimental attachment to her people? The next person in line to the Martian throne should have no sentimental attachment to Martians?

I could hardly disagree more!

I'm saying even with sentimental attachment to the Martians (whom as she as stated are people all the same like the Earthlings), Trillram's actions are still unjustified.

He can fairly attack the soldiers all he wants, but when he's specifically attacking a van full of unarmed civilians, that looks nothing more than sadistic bullying from Asseylum's perspective.

Even in an "all-out war" where destroying homes and civilians are justified as unavoidable casualities from collateral destruction, Trillram's are clearly not indiscriminate enough to fall under that.

[Sute443]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

In any case, if the series doesn't show other Martians besides the princess being sympathetic to Terrans, we can only assume she's the only one who thinks like this until proved otherwise.

I strongly disagree. In the absence of further evidence, we should make no assumptions about the popularity of her stance amongst the Vers Empire.

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

That considering, Triple_R is right that her attitude feels odd and needs to be explained. The characterization has been really neglected until now, especially the Martian side. It's time the show starts to fill in the gaps.

While I don't actually think that Asseylum's behavior needs explaining, I do agree that with the plot set up and the characters mostly assembled, it's time for the show to start explaining various things.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

No, that's not what it's like.

It would instead be like if Trillram's mecha was strangely defeated somehow, and it's not explained how until next episode.

Sure, it's better to get an explanation at some point than none at all, but it's ideal if character actions aren't hard to make sense out of as they're happening. Just like it was easy to make sense out of the defeat of Trillram's mecha as it was happening, and we're not left going "huh?" until that's explained in Episode 4.

Oooh! I think I see where the disconnect between our viewpoints is. See, I didn't think Asseylum's stand against Trillram was at all out of character or otherwise "huh?"-inducing. Her actions make sense to me based on what she's seen so far, thus her reasons don't need any explanation in my view.

Do you think it's unreasonable for Asseylum to be able to recognize that the people who are helping her out and asking for nothing in exchange while risking their own lives (that is, the lives of the people doing the helping) to save civilians are good people?

Or is it that you think it's unreasonable for her to think that the guy who chased after a bunch of fleeing civilians, killing one of them in the process, and mockingly asked her if she was going to beg for her life is a bad person just because he's a Martian? Scum is scum, whether it's one of your people or not. Also, she is royalty and thus probably not used to being spoken to in such an insolent manner.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

3 episodes of anime is a significant stretch of total running time. It's not unreasonable to want to have a good sense of major characters/protagonists by this point in the anime.

This is a 2-cour series, isn't it? That's at least 24 episodes. There are still 21 episodes in which Asseylum's character can be explained. I have no problem with them using the first eighth of the series to set up the situation before explaining the characters in that situation.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

So is it your position that most civilian Martians aren't racist, and that it's only their military that's like that? That would be a bit strange itself, in my view.

No, it would be absurd to take that position at this time. And it would be equally absurd to use what we've seen so far to infer that most civilian Martians are racist. My position is that it is unjustified to say that Asseylum's stance is unusual amongst Martians considering that the Martians we've seen expressing racism are from the segments of society that we would EXPECT to be racist.



Triple_R, you seem to be focusing a lot on Asseylum's actions not making sense from the perspective of her being a good princess. But the thing is, the empire she's the princess of are the BAD GUYS. Being a good princess to them would make her a BAD GUY from the perspective of the viewers. It's entirely possible for her to be good and a princess without being a good princess.

[Esclair]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Her status as a ruler, as a Princess, is hugely important to the narrative itself. This whole narrative is kicked off by her taking actions based on what she thinks is the best use of her Princess status.

So she's not a character that just happens to be a Princess, where your argument would make perfect sense. She's a character who's Princess status is crucial to the narrative, and crucial to her goals.

So naturally, how good a ruler or a Princess she is ought to factor in considerably to any good character evaluation of her. So if the writers want her to be likeable to most viewers then she should be presented as a generally admirable Princess/ruler, in my view.

I explained it above. It has nothing to do with stereotype Disney Princesses.

Which is only possible because of her Princess status, and hence her Princess status is central to her and her character.

I disagree. The way the show introduces her makes it crystal clear that her Princess status is highly important to the entire narrative, in multiple ways (even including the pretext for the war itself).

Except she didn't gain her Princess status through some kind of election process where it was her abilities that got her there. She was just given the title because she inherited it through her blood. She could very well be a 'bad' ruler by your definition. Maybe even if she didn't get assassinated she'd be ultimately ineffective at bringing peace via diplomacy. Of course, we'll never know because that's not the direction the show went. The show does explicitly show her throwing Inaho to the ground and of course taking up the mantle of fighting against Martian forces as part of her 'responsibility'.

Basically, I'm only going purely by what the show has revealed. I don't have any preconceived notions that she was an 'admirable' ruler because there's no evidence for it in the show so far. Without that notion her character isn't inconsistent. Yes, you might find her actions to be unlikeable, which is fine. I don't think the writers need write their characters to be 'likeable' if it doesn't fit with their vision of the story, nor do I think they are going for that. Inaho is already a pretty unconventional lead. A lot of people were turned off by his initial display in the first two episodes.

Plenty of highly popular characters do very unlikeable things, yet that becomes part of their charm. There are also a lot of characters that are written to be 'likeable', but end up not being particularly interesting either.

Officer Hugh Thompson is only germane to this discussion if you can clearly demonstrate that he was completely non-conflicted (as the Princess appeared to be) in taking military action against his fellow American soldiers.

And I'm not going to do your own research work for you. It's your argument, so you can find and put up the pertinent information yourself.

He was brought up as a point to how someone can find it justifiable to go against their own countrymen. It shows that yes, the Princess can have a strong justification for her actions. Even if Thompson was conflicted, he felt he was justified in his actions. His specifically stated in his interviews that he felt his actions to be right. Whether or not the Princess should feel conflicted about fighting against another Martian after coming to her decision is a different matter. See below.

There hasn't been the slightest hint given that the Princess has any interest in any such supposed infighting.

You said it should be expected that the military and civilian government be in harmony, and I suggested that using Lords/Emperors as the setting would probably give the opposite effect. It has nothing to do with whether or not the Princess is involved in the infighting.

Edit: And besides, that's not my entire gripe with her. It's more than just what she did, it's also how she acted as she did it. ImperialKnight put it well... "2. She was totally compliant in assisting the group kill TrillRam. I mean she was literally "giggling" when she fired that Grenade launcher people I mean come on! "

Her giggling could be read two ways. The first was that she really did enjoy taking part in the fight against a Martian soldier. If you throw away the notion that she needed to be an admirable ruler, then it could indicate that she really does dislike the soldiers or the Lords faction aside from Crutheo. The second is that she just enjoyed firing a grenade launcher. She's combat trained and very interested in Earth, so she could very well find it exhilarating to be firing a high powered Earth weapon for the first time. Not to mention she was only firing a smoke grenade, there was no damage done. After that she puts on a serious expression that befits the gravity of the situation. I find the second a lot more likely.

Now, as for whether or not she should feel conflicted. If she already had beef with the Lords, then she might not feel conflicted at all, especially since it looks like she's had a lot of combat training (just look at how calm she is during the whole decoy operation) and fighting might actually be a natural part of her. If she actually is conflicted, but just doesn't show it (her smile was just to indicate her joy at firing a grenade launcher for the first time) then she might show it next episode when she finds out about Trilram's death, since I think she might have thought that the pilot would escape even if they took out the Mech (she does seem highly knowledgeable about the Martian military equipment), which was what happened except Slaine decided to exact his own brand of justice.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Sute443

I strongly disagree. In the absence of further evidence, we should make no assumptions about the popularity of her stance amongst the Vers Empire.

She's quite literally the only Martian shown that doesn't think Earthlings are scum. Even her maid, who isn't part of the military, thinks that way. The show is making a point about her being different, otherwise it would show at least one other Martian sharing her views. Now it needs to explain why she's different.

My position is that it is unjustified to say that Asseylum's stance is unusual amongst Martians considering that the Martians we've seen expressing racism are from the segments of society that we would EXPECT to be racist.

Why would a maid be expected to be racist? Heck, why would the knights be expected to be particularly racist? To be arrogant, maybe. To think they're better due to their status as knights, yeah. But racist? No, I have no reason to expect that from them any more than from a maid or a regular citizen. Their views regarding Earthlings is quite clearly presented as something they hold collectively, disregarding of their personal status. That's why the series shows you both maids and knights, people of totally different social standings, sharing the same views.

[Arya]

Well, how many pages should I be expected to read before posting?
Anyways, this show is totally and perfectly right up my alley. I can't ask more. Well, the OST is very good but not at the levels of Guilty Crown yet, but then that was the best thing of GC so in this case I hope the show will keep its quality.
I have two very minor complains, the first one is that it felt a bit dumb for the bad guy to spill the beans to Slain, on the other hand that was good way to give room to Slain's development (sort of).
And yeah, definitely the moment I saw the princess "smiling" after having fired the smoke grenades I thought that she would have start yelling Yeehaw in the way of the cowboys suddenly jumping on a runaway horse keep on firing grenades at random

In any case the show is awesome so far!!!

[Traece]

As far as the OST goes, my problem with this OST is similar to the problem I have with Unicorn Gundam's OST. Those epic vocal tracks are nice when used sparingly. Unicorn and AZ decided that vocal tracks are so cool they can be used all the time instead of regular orchestra music, and that they can be used all the time.

AZ has some great moments accentuated by the music style they chose, but then they also use it during the not-so-great moments, and it really starts to wear it down.

I like the composer, and I like the singer, but vocals in music like this are for adding to the orchestra.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Esclair

Now, as for whether or not she should feel conflicted. If she already had beef with the Lords, then she might not feel conflicted at all, especially since it looks like she's had a lot of combat training (just look at how calm she is during the whole decoy operation) and fighting might actually be a natural part of her. If she actually is conflicted, but just doesn't show it (her smile was just to indicate her joy at firing a grenade launcher for the first time) then she might show it next episode when she finds out about Trilram's death

You know why no one is asking why Slaine killed Trilram? It's because the series made sure we knew, beforehand, that he cares a lot about the princess. This is a example of decent storytelling. Unless there's a very specific reason not to (like in a mystery show), actions have to make sense as they happen, so the audience need to know what makes the characters tick beforehand. The reason we're having all this argument is because the show failed to do the same for the princess. You may be right that she's got a beef with the Lords. Maybe she even suspects they were behind the assassination attempt. But if that's the case, the series needed to explain that before she took actions against them.

[Shadow5YA]

I don't see why it's so hard to understand that Trillram took unjustified belligerent actions against civilains, and that since Asseylum was on the receiving end of it, she can understand why they would fight for their lives later.

Her romantic ideals of Earth certainly need explaining since she must have had some adult who influenced her to believe that way, but given the immediate situation with Trillam, I don't see how she could possibly be sympathetic towards him outside of a strong sense of nationalism bordering on bigotry like the rest of the Martians we've seen have.

And this is before that surviving "rat" had a chance to tell her side of the story. Once she explains her part in the conspiracy, that would only antagonize the knights even more.

[Thess]

I don't know if you're aware, but the character designer has a tumblr and she made some sketches of the characters.

Sharing a few ones:

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Next post I'll share some of my favorite fanarts, the tag is getting popular.

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

Her romantic ideals of Earth certainly need explaining since she must have had some adult who influenced her to believe that way, but given the immediate situation with Trillam, I don't see how she could possibly be sympathetic towards him outside of a strong sense of nationalism bordering on bigotry like the rest of the Martians we've seen have.

Slaine became one of her tutors for her education, iirc, and she always longed for Earth because of her curiosity.

[Key Board]

That's a lot of trust
Putting Slaine in that position
especially since they're the same age and he's a "scum" from Earth

probably too much trust

I think it's more accurate to say that they assigned him to be her friend

[Thess]

Originally Posted by Key Board

That's a lot of trust
Putting Slaine in that position
especially since they're the same age and he's a "scum" from Earth

probably too much trust

I think it's more accurate to say that they assigned him to be her friend

Here, I didn't realize it, but LightningZERO already addressed it:

Originally Posted by LightningZERO

Information time!

Someone on the chinese board posted a summary of information obtained from the official website (there are some unlockable information in the website itself). While I can't verify the sources (I don't know how to unlock the official page's code game), the information is most probably real (with pics as well). This is my best translation.

Warning. While nothing major, they might spoil your enjoyment if you intend to learn about the world itself through watching the show. Oh, contain spoilers on the Princess's assasination.

Spoiler for A/Z:

The first relocated people found ancient technology on Mars and in 1982, under the lead of Ray Regalia, they rebelled against Earth and then declared themselves independent in 1985. Partly to retalliate against Earth governement for their relocation to Mars, which was difficult and unsecured, and to have the Aldnoah for themselves.

Pic below: Interior of VERS Empire and a photo captured of Mars surface (10.5.2014)


VERS prompty became a closed country once declared themselves independent. However, they explained that this was due to their unsuccessful negotiations with the earth government for the legality and the equality of their newly founded country, not an one sided close down on their side.

2014, the 30th anniversary of VERS empire, the total population has yet to exceed a million. As to why Professional Ray Regalia has such charisma to lead his people to rebel and form a country and why VERS decided to go with empire structure, it probably has something to do with the Aldnoah, and will be one of they key point of the show.

The first VERS Emperor is Ray Regalia, succeeded by his son Gillsaia. Princess Asseylum is Gillsaia's posthumous child. Until the second contender to the throne is announced, Asseylum remains the sole inheritor to the throne. Ray Regalia retired in 1997, but returned as the emperor after Gillsaia's death.

The 37 Mars Knights are appointed counts, they are armed nobels with Cataphracts. Known Knights are Saazbaum (the brown haired dude, 43) and Cruhteo (the blonde dude, 37, Saline's master) In 2002, once a route between MARS and Moon was established (Hyper gate destroyed in Heaven's Fall), the Mars army was ordered to retreat back to Mars. However, the 37 families refused the order and remained.

VERS, UFE flags, and the VERS Royal Family (plus Counts)


The discovery on Moon allowed the technology on Earth to accelerate. 1975, both eastern and western countries ended their cold war in order to proceed with the development of Mars. 1985, to counter the newly formed VERS Empire, nations used the UN as base to form UFE (United Forces of Earth). UFE used to have base on the Moon in the 90s until Heaven's Fall, and finally made their own Cataphracts in 2003.

1999, both army clashed on the moon as the battlefield, resulting the Heaven's Fall. Earth suffered heavy damage, with America and Australia suffered the worst. The total world population reduced by 50%. VERS military's supply was cut off, and both sides had to ceasefire. A peace treaty was signed in the following year. The situation on Earth was chaotic until 2007. Shown below is the world population report



After the war, VERS placed undercovers on Earth for information gathering. 2014, when the Princess decided to visit Earth, they planned for her assassination to initiate the second war. One of the agent involved in the assassination, Wolf Areash left this message: "This is my final report. If someone is reading this report, it means that I have already acted according to the plan, making an impact on this world...I will not return to this place. Glory to the VERS Empire".

The assassination plan




The school timetable. Military class is made compulsory. Students are educated in pilotting, shooting, wind reading etc.

The mecha in this anime is called Cataphract. Both sides have their own design philosphy. Cataphracts were first used by VERS in 1999. Mars' Cataphracts are huge and alien-ish designed. It is not known if they are designed by VERS themselves or are part of the ancient technology.



For UFE's Cataphracts, they were first rolled out in 2003. So far two types are known, KG6 (orange and the school training use) and KG7 (greenish and the newer model), both types are 13meter in height. Unlike the unique VERS' Cataphracts, Earth's Cataphracts are mass produced and used as main weapon and also training tools. Even VERS' undercover agents expressed their thoughts on Earth's Cataphracts as a threat in their reports.

An excerpt from the agent report dated 12th April:
"Using military vehicles as base and revolutionizing their own technology, UFE managed to build prototypes and then mass produced their own Cataphracts within a short 2 years period after the war ended. Not only they did it in such a short period, their Cataphracts were also used in riot suppression and peacekeeping, proving their capabilities. Of note is the UEF's large scale production capability, with huge supply of material and human resources. We should not let our guard down. Further investigations are necessary to assess the UFE's Cataphracts' performance in actual combat..."

UFE also have battleships that act as Cataphracts' carriers. It is not known if the UFE has space use battleships. Two earth side characters who have yet to appear are assigned to UFE Wadatsumi Base's 4th fleet.

Other info:

Slaine was born on Earth and together with his father who was a researcher, defected to VERS 5 years ago. The reason for the defection remains unknown. After his father died, Slaine worked under Cruchteo and assigned as one of Asseylum's educator.

The battle of Tanegashima, as mentioned by Marito, was wiped off in both UFE and VERS' records. The event was nonexistence in UFE's first war record, while on VERS side, only a short blurb was recorded: "During the war, we had a chance to let Mars Knights to land on Earth. But according to investigations, there are no records of any battles fought on Earth."

Originally posted by 佐々原三月

Actually, this was also addressed in the first episode, with Asseylum saying she looked forward her more lessons from him soon. Which leads to the question why was Cruchteo so upset with a lesson if this was Slaine's assignment? Because he looked pretty displeased when he interrupted them the first time. Food for thought.

Edit: Actually, he trusted him enough to assign him as Trillram's pilot too in a very critical mission. So he seems to place some trust on him.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Thess

Which leads to the question why was Cruchteo so upset with a lesson if this was Slaine's assignment? Because he looked pretty displeased when he interrupted them the first time. Food for thought.

A closer to home analogy would be how, in the Old South, a father would take the fact that her daughter is taking lessons from a slave. That's the closest thing that comes in mind.

[Thess]

Originally Posted by Sheba

A closer to home analogy would be how, in the Old South, a father would take the fact that her daughter is taking lessons from a slave. That's the closest thing that comes in mind.

That's not really a close analogy. Because Slaine was assigned for the task by him, it seems is implicit in the official description. Think about Greek slaves or intellectuals tutoring patrician children in Rome, that's more accurate (or foreigners in general from Greece who weren't citizens but weren't send to live in awful conditions. Look at Slaine's fancy room). Even so, you don't get mad because he's doing his job.

[renuac]

Originally Posted by Benigmatica

By the way, has anyone discussed about the succession to the throne at Vers Empire?

Assuming that they killed the princess (which is not) by the Knights, who will succeed after Emperor Rayregalia Vers Rayvers passed away?

I have a feeling that might become a plot point actually. The extra materials indicate that Asseylum is the only named heir and probably Ray Regalia's only descendant. The plot to assassinate her might have been setting up a coup on Mars as well as an excuse to invade Earth.

[Thess]

Originally Posted by renuac

I have a feeling that might become a plot point actually. The extra materials indicate that Asseylum is the only named heir and probably Ray Regalia's only descendant. The plot to assassinate her might have been setting up a coup on Mars as well as an excuse to invade Earth.

Bets are in one of the people who feature in the 'family picture'. In particular the guy who was behind her assassination and also considered taking out the competition with a meteor rain: