Ironically, my arguments from a week prior hold true on Wright doing it for a bigger picture and/or good cause ultimately (even if I don't like how dropping a bomb and killing hundreds of civilians in this series is written off as "it's for a good reason").
Minor character bits in this episode:
- Makina is alive and is recovering and Chaos is awaiting her full recovery (or it's the impression I received in the first minute of the episode). Reina is by her side for a majority of the episode (good show of friendship). Also like how Freyja is in her room, too.
- Chuck receives a meal from his family; it's a sweet scene for him until I remember his family members have not been around/shown since episode 16... and it's a little awkward.
- Hayate discovers his father is not a bad person. It's more than a little
too convenient Makina and Reina discover a voice recorder in his VF-22 which contains a voice recording of his final moments. This plot convenience thing is like a fanfic right now...
- Arad and Kaname reminiscence over Messar, which is cool: The salute scene is painting this moment as a "parted as friends" vibe for their ship in general.
- The Aerial Knights learn of Heinz dying. This scene is a little pointless without subs because I don't know if it's really holding any relevance to what Roid is inquiring about...
- Keith is finally evolving into a Brera 2.0; he's actively disagreeing with Roid on where everything is going and actively says he does believe Roid is "off his rocker". This is good character development for him! Even if it's a little late for him to redeem himself for
Heinz, he could redeem himself for the series itself.
- Heinz is... god... Roid is pushing him aside in favor of Mikumo in this episode and logically Heinz should be a little concerned over his role in general now. However, Heinz is a
doormat for Roid. His character is not developing at all in this episode.
Then this episode displays our triangular on a level of Frontier (minus kiss scene):
Mirage knows Freyja is hiding her real injury (is not an injury, however, from Mirage's perspective, it could be), and I love how later on she confronts
and knows he really wishes to be with Freyja right now, and insists if he wants to, he should go be with her (or along those lines, it's very close with her more than once mentioning it's not his place to be in the loading dock during this time). Of course, subs will tell me
why he is apologizing to her (prior love confession in episode 20?) prior to rushing off to find Freyja.
The scene
with Freyja is
beautiful:
For one, it shows how Freyja is knowing she is dying and is pulling a Sheryl on us of not wishing to weigh him down (hiding her signs of age, insisting they go back, not confessing her feelings), and it's obviously showing for
him because prior to the package delivery, he begins to question her attitude (she's not overly excited to talk to him like usual, shows how he picks up on her feelings even if her rune is not blue).
Then it's showing
his side; because he's not secretive about family business and openly allows her to surf around in his box. Hell, he even says "it's no big deal"!
The scene of both re-reading his handwritten notes is so beautiful; their faces are drawn really well in this scene to look "nostalgic", and final scene is of them on the beach on Ragna... I love this scene of them showing how connected they are even now.
The scene where Freyja confirms it's his father who did give her the music player is... off. I mean, at this point, it's so foreshadowed... and once it's
delivered, no words are exchanged for Wright and Freyja... and Freyja hides it in present time, too.
The final scene where he is confessing "I'll protect you, your home, and Ragna" is beautifully played; now it feels like Hayate knows where his "home" is (a discussion which grew in episode 14 and never flew anywhere); and I believe he's more than implying his home is not just Ragna, but Chaos, too. (Or specifically, it could be
Freyja because he places her
above Ragna.)
The love triangle, at this point, is one-sided or never existed from the other half (as Mirage is a supporter and not a contender); however, I like how it's developing now. Because Mirage is signing herself off so she can develop in general as a character for the final episode (vibe I received) and I'd like to see her final fight!
