Asseylum’s sudden awakening had a This Changes Everything feel about it. But what struck me was how very little actually changes, at least this week, due in part to the sheer momentum of the developments that preceded it.
Lemrina, posing as her sister, has galvanized the Orbital Knights with her proclamation. “The arrow is loosed,” as Slaine later says; there’s no putting it back in its quiver, making it that much tougher for those on the sidelines—Asseylum and Inaho—to make a measurable impact.
The brass is pleased with the incremental progress they’ve made against the Orbital Knights (due mostly to Inaho, which, yes, is ridiculous, but I’ve moved on from that fact), to the point they seem to be pussyfooting, which pisses off Captain Magbaredge to no end. They also dismiss the princess’ address as inconsequential, which is pretty damn stupid, as it proves to be an immensely morale-boosting rallying call to the Knights. All of Earth’s small gains could go away in a flash because of that speech.
One reason Asseylum’s eyes opening doesn’t have a marked impact on present events is that when Eddelrittuo reports it to Slaine, he doesn’t tell anyone else, including Lemrina. In fact, he lies to Lemrina that shes taken a turn for the worst. Lying is not a great way to start a marriage, and it’s clear this is a stopgap move to keep Lemrina—and the power she commands under her sisters’ guise—in his good graces.
While alone in her fancy Roman Space Bath, Lemrina tears up. Is she apprehensive about her sister dying for good…or des she know on some unconscious leve that Slaine is deceiving her?
Of course, Slaine may have lied because while Asseylum’s eyes opened, at that point she hadn’t actually fully awakened. When she does, Slaine forgets about all the complications and lets himself be overcome by elation as he hears her say his name again.
Down on Earth, Orbital Knights loyal to (or at least tolerant of) him are confidently advancing against the Earth resistance forces; hundreds of people are being killed; his power is being consolidated thanks to Lemrina and Harklight; but in this moment Slaine couldn’t care less about any of that shit. All that matters is that Asseylum is awake and talking. And while not quite on par with Inaho waking up before Yuki, it’s still a fine, moving scene.
Mazuurek is back from a far shorter hiatus than the princess, but he’s still amazed at how much has changed in his absence. His cordial conversation with Barouhcruz takes a turn for the disquieting when his rumors about Slaine having killed Saazbaum fall on deaf, and at least on the surface, outraged ears. With the loss of Marylcian, Barouchcruz has bent the knee to Slaine, and warns Mazuurek to choose wisely.
Slaine has so utterly taken control of the situation, and his rise so high and swift, those who once openly opposed him fall in line, grudgingly or not, to the point even if those all those rumors are true, it doesn’t matter anymore. Slaine is holding all the cards.
Well…not all of them. Everything he has done has been for Asseylum…even if the truth is, she neither asks for nor wants any of it. And that seems to be all the more true when Slaine, about to present Asseylum with some very unironic blue roses, overhears Asseylum remembering watching the birds with Kaizuka, his nemesis in all things.
Yes, for all the power he has, he is still unable to capture that which he wants most: Asseylum’s heart. While en route to his next battle, Inaho himself almost seems to sense Asseylum talking about him—similar to how someone sneezes when they’re being talked about while they’re not around.
It’s a very overt and uncomplicated irony Slaine is laden with, but I consider it a strong and compelling irony all the same. Slaine is only here because of Asseylum, but not only by his choice. The episode takes us back to his crashed capsule where he met the princess and became her ward and tutor.
Destiny has been on his side since that day, but now he must keep the existence of Asseylum saved him with her compassion secret from her sister, even while Asseylum harbors feelings for another. Not only would Lemrina discovering her sister is up and about crush her, the knowledge that Slaine had lied to her would crush her even more.
Speaking of crushing, though, as all this drama goes on at the moon base, the Orbital Knights are finally starting to crush it on the battlefield, now that they have been (mostly) united under a single leader. They’re working together now, tabling their arrogance and closing one another’s weaknesses.
All of this simply gives Slaine, for all his romantic problems, all of the momentum in the world. So much so that even someone like Inaho—whose shipmates once again found time to reiterate how indispensable and awesome he is—seems caught off guard by the sheer pace of it all. If Earth is to have any chance at all, far stronger measures are going to have to be devised.
RABUJOI - An Anime Blog 
yeah 8 sounds about right. it was a little laggy. a little too ironic. the earth big wigs are cliche morons. it didn’t actually get to the battle that is obviously going to be a big one. but it looked good and it was well enough deliverd.
We’ll see how next week turns out. I’m assuming Inaho has planned for this and will soon have 2 more landing castles stenciled on his Mustang 00
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It’s good that for the first time in a while, we’ve got that feeling that Inaho & Co. really have their backs up against the wall, something that could have been prevented if the brass had been more aggressive back when the Knights were still scattered. It’s bad enough for the Deucalion to be outnumbered and outgunned, but to be at the mercy of appallingly incompetent bigwigs adds insult to injury.
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I must say, this one is a great example of how much better the show fares when it does not focus on Inaho’s “heroics” and Stu-ness (you already know my opinions on this). This just gives a lot of room for the other characters to move around in and gives the series that proper epic space drama feel that it should have had from the start.
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I appreciate how you mentioned the reason the Martians are working closely together is because of Slaine’s leadership and political power. Normally if a Count’s landing castle dropped that close to another castle, it would mean breach of territory and war between Counts.
It seems this season, they really are putting more emphasis on the Martian side. Most this episode is pretty much Slaine and co. plot development. Despite all the central drama, they still manage to slit in funny scenes, such as Mizusaki being all flustered being ditched behind by Darzana in favor of Marito, and the girls gossiping about it. Also Yuki-nee’s “That bastard that shot my dear little brother.” These little scenes is what makes the show much more enjoyable.
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The supporting cast, both Inaho’s friends and the older officers, have all been through so much together they’ve become as near as makes no difference a tight-knit family. Their special status as a commando force makes that possible, and this late in the series, we’re reaping the benefits of their shared experiences in those moments of lovely side-banter.
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