Sword Art Online – 17

Kirito saves Lyfa from the Salamanders, and she thanks him by teaching him how to fly and buying him a drink. He tells her it’s imperative he get to the World Tree as soon as possible. She grudgingly agrees to accompany him before she logs out and is revealed to be Sugu. Kirito promises Yui he’ll get Asuna back, then falls asleep and logs out as well. Up in the World Tree, Asuna is being held captive by Sugou, AKA the Fairy King Oberon, who calls her Queen Titania. He insists she fall in love with him soon. He also tells her about using 300 SAO players including her and the 10,000 AFO users for secret research into implanting artificial thoughts, emotions and memories.

We can say with confidence if we met someone speaking in the same voice as our little sister, even if she looked totally different, we’d ask if she was our little sister in real life…but that’s just us. As for Sugu, we were expecting her to run over to her brother in the next room, but while Kirito seemed to give her a similar vibe, it seems she hasn’t made the connection yet. So we have a brother and a sister (really cousin!) who likes him, oblivious to who the other one really is, headed to the World Tree to try to climb it – something that hasn’t been done before. There’s a good reason for that: the conditions for clearing the game may not be possible. Only one race can win, but the final quest may require cooperation between races, which will probably never happen considering one would be sacrificial.

Also, no one knows the nature of the quest itself, and there’s a good reason for that too: Sugou Nobuyuki, AKA “Fairy King Oberon”, is using the players of ALfeim Online for clandestine human experimentation, and it behooves him to delay the clearing of the game. Sugou cements his place as the slimiest, Evilest Evil-With-A-Capital-E Bad Guy of the series, who wants Asuna whether she wants him or not. Asuna puts up a brave front, but her horror is palpable as he paws her and explains exactly how he could wipe her memories (including those of Kirito, no doubt), her free will, her personality – everything that makes her Yuuki Asuna, if he displeases him. So she has to sit tight, and hope that zany brother-sister duo finds a way to get to her. Judging by how quickly Kirito learned high-speed flying (an awesome scene, BTW), it may not take long.

Rating: 8 (Great)