To Aru Majutsu no Index III – 21 – On Private Time

From the Pope about to be replaced conversing with the nun Vasilissa who is already in Russia, to Aiwass asking none other than Kazakiri Hyouka to head there to deal with Sasha’s situation, the first two scenes in this episode establish an ever more widely-sprawling cast in what had begun as a much more characterly austere arc. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Hyouka, but in seeking assurances from Aiwass that her friends won’t be harmed, I assume she’s more good guy than bad.

Once all the Russian privateers are dealt with by Acqua, Hamazura suggests they move on, allowing Academy City to protect the village from further slaughter even if it means occupying that village. He and Takitsubo head to the border in a Lada Niva, but are quickly chased by Academy City powered suits.

Accelerator arrives in the knick of time—albeit pissed that complications are being added to his mission—but once Elizalina has had a look at both Last Order and Takitsubo, she determines it’s possible to save both (though Last Order will be trickier).

Accelerator starts to head out to “do what must be done”, which will entail veering off the rails of villainy Academy City laid out for him, and which he followed without protest. He suggests Misaka Worst do the same thing: “stumble upon a route other than the one where” she’ll “only get used up”. Worst seems game, even if she can’t help but laugh at Accelerator’s expressions and words.

Someone currently being used, and utterly powerless to sever that control, is poor Index, who is in England with Stiyl and Laura Stuart. Turns out there are two remote control magical items: the one Fiamma stole and the one the she possesses. She intends to use her item to interrupt Fiamma’s and foil his plans. Stiyl notes how no part of her plan is looking out for Index’s well-being, but that’s par for the course with Laura.

Fiamma’s plan, meanwhile, proceeds as he planned, with Touma and Lessar arriving exactly where and when he wanted, and in time to demonstrate the scale and scope of his power by extracting an absolutely gargantuan cross (or sword?…Cross-sword?) out of the ground.

All this happens just as the stealth plane Misaka hijacked arrives in Russia. An angel descends from the sky and slices the plane in half, but Biribiri safely lands with no issues, as does the pilot. Immediately upon soft-landing in a little spot where her electricity melted the snow, she’s approached by Misaka 10777, apparently of an Academy City Russian co-op outfit that has just finished withdrawing.

10777 must have detected Big Sis and went to her location to share in her “private time”, implying Misaka is not here on any kind of official business, Academy City-affiliated or otherwise. And she’s absolutely right: Misaka has given herself quite the limited mandate: Save that good-for-nothin’, two-timin’, run-of-the-mill Level 0 high schooler with the spiky hair and a tiny Engish nun for a roommate. We’ll see how successful she is in not getting involved with anything else!

To Aru Majutsu no Index III – 20 – No Excuses

The Russia arc reaches a satisfying turning point as allies start to join our over-matched heroes. Accelerator may have spared Misaka Worst’s life, but it’s not in Worst’s programming to be grateful for it; in fact, she’s quite pissed! But Accelerator has bigger problems: he’s seemingly out of control, letting the evil destructive side take over while lil’ Last Order slowly freezes in the snow.

As Touma and Lessar head towards Fiamma’s location, his words about Touma’s deceiving of Index weigh on his mind. Lessar reassures him he’s done—and is doing—the right thing: moving forward, helping where he can, and saving lives, both there and in Britain. Hamazura’s attempting to do the same thing, without the benefit of Imagine Breaker.

As Carissa and the British armies continue their advance across the channel, they bring the Mobile Fortress Glastonbury looms overhead, providing a mobile bastion of British soil that will allow Curtana’s power to be used anywhere.

They are met by the Holy Maiden of Versailles, a Joan d’Arc-looking warrior who crosses swords with the second princess. This part of the Russia arc is the least interesting to me so far, especially since it hasn’t yet really gotten anywhere (the channel isn’t that vast) and involves too many players to focus on any of them for long.

Far more engaging is the totally epic duel in the tundra between a Touma and Accelerator. One is pissed about being overpowered by Fiamma so easily; the other is pissed that Last Order continues to suffer. Their battle is accompanied by suitably badass battle music, and the two lads trade blows, but ultimately it’s Touma who gets the upper hand.

If Touma had any serious doubts about how he’s dealt with Index before, he certainly doesn’t after seeing an alternative scenario in Accelerator has dealt with Last Order. He’s so angry over the fact so many people have allowed her to suffer, and that his evil villain persona doesn’t seem to be enough to protect her.

Touma basically tells Accelerator to get over himself: he doesn’t need any reason or excuse to step up and protect Last Order, nor is there any reason for him not to rely on others to help if he feels he alone isn’t enough. Touma releases whatever magic had been applied to Last Order, and Accelerator betrays a smile of relief. These two together; they’ve got a change against Fiamma.

Hamazura doesn’t have any luck with a relative pea-shooter against an incoming privateer tank, but decides to repurpose one of the mines the villagers have collected as an anti-tank grenade. He stops the tank in its tracks, but then an attack helicopter buzzes overhead and prepares to take him out. Very well-supplied privateers, these guys!

The chopper is taken out by none other than Acqua, admiring Hamazura’s dedication to protecting the innocent villagers from massacre. So now Hamazura has a powerful ally in his goal to save Takitsubo, who still isn’t looking so great.

Back in the channel, Carissa ceases her duel with the French Maiden, blaming Fiamma for this war, and warns that if Russia’s mainland is invaded and its nuke facilities under threat of being taken over, an airborne killer virus wall will be dispersed, a scorched-earth directive that will result in appalling casualties.

Carissa admits she needs French soil to continue her advance, but at the moment the two countries have a mutual enemy: Fiamma. Rather than fight each other, they’ll need to join forces to stop him.

And just in case Accelerator+Touma, Hamazura+Acqua, and Britain+France aren’t enough against Fiamma, who is preparing to use Sasha to do…something bad, Misaka and Shirai finally learn of Touma’s whereabouts, and Misaka hastily begins packing for a trip to Russia.

Perhaps, finally, hopefully, she’ll be able to contribute something concrete and meaningful this season! Unfortunately, the plane it looks like she’s taking has a stowaway: Mugino, She Who Will Never Die, who isn’t done with Hamazura.

When Accelerator wakes up, he’s in Elizalina, and wouldn’t you know it, someone finally gave Last Order some climate-appropriate clothes and shoes! Thank goodness for that; I was worried she’d get frostbite and hypothermia. Touma and Lessar (who is glad he’s looking more confident and resolved) continue heading to Fiamma for Round Two.

To Aru Majutsu no Index III – 19 – The Worst

Accelerator has a distinct “oh great, what now” kind of attitude in Russia. The dramatic arrival of his latest opponent, “Misaka Worst,” doesn’t help matters. Back at Elizalina HQ, Vento starts her duel with Fiamma by summoning a giant ice galleon that flings him across the street. She breaks out her tongue-mounted weapon to fire blow after blow at her fellow Right-Hander, and it looks like this is going to be a cakewalk for the enemy of Touma’s enemy.

It’s, um…not. Fiamma is just letting Vento beat on him. When he actually gets serious with his creepy right hand and decoder cylinder thingy, Vento doesn’t have a chance, nor does anyone else, apparently. He rips the stud right out of Vento’s tongue and vanishes it before grabbing Sasha and withdrawing, promising he’ll be back for a helpless Touma.

To be honest I don’t quite understand exactly what Fiamma’s power is, but suffice it to say if he can do this to the likes of Vento, he’s going to be serious trouble! Before he goes he asks Touma if the way he’s been treating Index all this time, while knowing what she really was, is actually the right way. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that yes, Touma indeed believes his way is right, while the nutso quasi-angel dude’s way…ehh, notsomuch!

We have a quick check-in with Shiage at the village. The doctor doesn’t have the means to treat the effects of the Academy City drugs that are causing all the trouble for Takitsubo, while Russian-backed privateers appear on the horizon, poised to level the village. Shiage is not having a great time, and isn’t sure why he came anymore, but if there’s a village that needs protecting, I’m sure he’ll help in any way he can.

The balance of the episode is the duel between Accelerator and this extremely pissed-off Misaka clone, who seems to carry the combined animosity of all the thousands of Sisters he killed in the past. Like Vento against Fiamma early on, it’s a one-sided affair, with Accelerator loath to lay a finger on another Misaka after promising never to do so again.

But when Misaka Worst threatens to kill Last Order, in order to pave the way to a “Third Season” of the Network that no longer needs her, Accelerator decides if someone has to die, it’s sure as shit not going to be Last Order. Once he starts using Reflection, the battle is basically over, and Accel goes a bit berserk in kicking her face in.

But he suddenly stops when he realizes Misaka Worst was sent here under the assumption he would kill her. He’s thus playing right into the hands of those he hates most, sitting back in comfort while he keeps killing and destroying. Rather than finish Worst off, Accelerator vows to protect her along with Last Order, not just to spite the bigwigs, but to prove to himself he’s capable of protecting something.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S – 24 (Fin)

The four small groups holding back Study’s AIMs are supplemented by the entirety of Judgment, stepping in after Anti-Skill’s hands were tied. With Febri’s help, Mikoto reaches Janie’s general position, but Aritomi sends hundreds of AIMs to surround her in an arena. When the first waves of AIMs are taken out, his colleagues sortie in heavier-duty robots armed with a facsimile of the Meltdowner’s beam weapon. On the front lines, they’re taken care of by a robot built by Kongou Airlines and piloted by Saten and Uiharu. In the arena, a furious Mugino and the rest of ITEM mop up the robots.

Fearing defeat is eminent, Aritomi enables Janie’s “Final Stage”, which will launch a missile from orbit that will turn Academy City to Ash. He tries to commit suicide, but Mikoto stops him, vehemently voices her commitment to protecting Febri and the city. As Shinobu and Saten coax Febri into forming a connection with Janie, Mikoto and Kuroko pilot the Kongou-bot up into orbit – with the Sister network assisting with calculations. Mikoto launches the robot at the missile before it fractures into warheads, averting disaster. Later, after Mikoto & Co. bid farewell to Shinobu, Febri, and Janie boarding an overseas flight, they agree to grab lunch before heading to their classes.

We’re not going to sit here and tell you this episode didn’t have its share of plausibility issues. If you watched, you saw what we saw: a bunch of frail high schoolers holding back giant sophisticated robots with glorified shields and spears and low-level esper powers. We saw live ammunition being fired into large crowds of unprotected people and no one was shot. We saw Study Corp’s mission quickly evolving wanting to be recognized to wanting to turn the entire city to ash. And yes, we saw the a hastily-built off-screen mecha being used to even the odds on the ground, then used to launch into orbit, where Mikoto and Kuroko hold their breath while destroying a missile.

None of this makes any damn sense, but Raildex has never been about plausibility or hard science. It’s been about cute slice-of-life interrupted by elaborate spectacle. And we’ll admit, watching everyone fighting together in one huge climactic battle was fun and exciting enough for us to forgive the many implausible jumps the episode takes as the stakes are raised. Of course, we were also a bit spoiled by watching the Index film, in which pretty much the same thing happens, only even more parties are involved. But as ridiculous as things got, the point is, many people together can do great things, things no one could ever do alone.

This season started with Sisters who thought they were expendable puppets. Mikoto and Touma helped them understand they were more. And those sisters were the first expression of that idea that there’s strength in numbers, a lesson Mikoto finally learned which led to all the great deeds that took place in this finale. Study was a group working together too, but they were megalomaniacal thugs threatening the city and the innocent. Once a larger group was mobilized against them, Aritomi never had a chance. In the last montage, we see that no one is alone and all’s right in the world…until the next baddie comes along.

Rating: 8 (Great)