I was a bit surprised by the way this episode ended myself -- you might otherwise have taken it as the ending (destroys Oberon, saves/logs-out Asuna, says farewell to Yui for now, says thanks to Suguha, etc.) except for the fact that he didn't actually arrive at the hospital and there was a next episode title. So... now what? There is obviously a lot of loose ends to tie up, and based on the title it has something to do with The Seed... but I guess I'm a bit surprised they didn't use some sort of cliffhanger to bridge to the final episode.
Otherwise... I sort of agree with Endless Knackwurst's assessment that they turned up Sugou's "crazy evil villain" dial a bit too high even considering what they did so far. He was pretty much a full-on parody at this point (as if he wasn't already). Kirito's realization that he was powerless was solved by tying in to the same element that caused so much controversy in the last arc (though it shows that being able to bypass the limits/constraints of the system is a recurring theme of the story and not only a one-time excuse), with a little help of Kayaba. It should be noted that they even had Kirito say outright that Kayaba being there even though he's apparently dead doesn't make much sense, which is basically "Lampshade Hanging". Something implausible happened, but it basically had to happen to balance the universe (since someone corrupt had too much power).
Anyway... we'll see what happens next week. Apparently he's biking to the hospital because he can't afford a cab even in these circumstances?
