86 part 2 episode 5 (16) Even So.

EDIT after episode: Alright, looks like they got me. went a little too far on the coverage. Point 5 gets a bit spoilery, so I am putting that one under spoiler tags.

You know the deal. Check the About Section if you want to find the video.
5 weeks. I have been waiting for this episode for 5 weeks now. I knew it was coming, and it is finally here.

The Legion are taking off the kid gloves.
Actually no, perhaps they are putting them on, in a way.

Yep. A little dark humor to start this out... because we've had the "touchy feely" episodes so far this season... time to get back to Cold Steel.

If you have already watched this week's episode of Faraway Paladin, you were treated to an awesome battle with a God... now you will see a battle with another Godly entity.... in a way.

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Before I start, I want to be clear on the amount of Novel I will be covering this episode: I will be covering THE REST OF NOVEL 2, and the Interlude chapter for Novel 3 titled "Get into your Guns".

It is not my intention to cover any spoilers, but based on what I have seen from the 30-second preview for this episode, I suspect we will have a part of the episode dedicated to Lena's side of the battlefield.

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Here are your list of topics:

.5 Where we would be in the Novel.
1. The Seven Seals of Revelation
2. The Children Fight
3. An Image Shattered
3.5 The Fallen Valkyrie
4. The Legion Retreat... and Shin is Tested
5. The Storm after the Calm
6. The Silver Bell Rings, Foretelling Doom
7. Lena and Jerome Clash... One Last Time

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.5 Where we would be in the Novel.

With the start of episode 16, we begin the final chapter of Novel 2, titled "Cries 'Take Aim'".
The Large-Scale Legion invasion has begun... and Shin reacts to the coming storm. I suspect that if we address Lena's side of the battlefield, we will cover the start of Novel 3.

As you are watching episode 16, keep in mind the symbolism we had in episode 15:

In episode 15, there was a heavy symbolism linked to the Raven. In some aspects, a Raven can symbolize insight, intellect, and wisdom (you can link this to Shin and his ability to foresee the Legion's movements).

In other aspects, a Raven is a symbol that signifies loss, death and ill omens. Ravens are also carrion birds (birds that eat dead flesh), and this will reflect especially in this episode with Shin and Company on the battlefield

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1. The Seven Seals of Revelation

Page 151 (this was all supposed to be in brackets, but it ruined the html):

No Face to first area network
Commence sweeping operation
All Legion connected to aforementioned network are to disengage standby mode
I repeat, commence sweeping operation
Targets: Eastern battlefront, the Federal Republic of Giad
Northern battlefront, the United Kingdom of Roa Gracia
Southern battlefront, the Alliance of Wald
Western battlefront, the Republic of San Magnolia
Directive to all Legion in the aforementioned network
Commence extermination at once

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With the start of episode 16, Shin wakes Raiden. Shin tells Raiden they are coming. When Raiden asks how many hostiles, Shin says "I don't want to calculate it. It's like the seven seals of Revelation have been broken.

For those not familiar, the Seven Seals of Revelation are a Christian Reverence to the End Times. When the Seven Seals are released, Calamities befall mankind. In this case... the call sign for Kiri's Legion unit is "Pale Rider", a reference to the "Pale Rider", another name for Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Shin is alot worse for wear this time...
Page 153
Raiden "...Are you okay, man?"
Shin "...I wouldn't increase the Para-RAID's sync rate above the bare minimum today if I were you."

He didn't try to pretend nothing was wrong. Even this stone-faced Reaper realized there was no hiding it. His red eyes laughed bitterly. His face was pallid, and not just because of the moonlight's illumination. He was pale, and his face was contorted as if he was enduring immense and constant pain.

"Don't Resonate with me unless you have to... I thought I was used to this, but tonight really is a bit too much."
The Reaper, who hadn't even batted an eye at the thunderous bellow of his brother's long-pursued ghost, was shaken.

Keep in mind that during episode 9 of season 1, Shin endured the wails of Shourei's entire army during his final confrontation with his brother.

This means that the Legion Force coming to the Federacy are much, much larger.

We are never told the numbers in Chapter 5, but we do get a brief description of the tide:

It was like witnessing the moment a tidal wave rose. The countless shadows crossed the ridges, like the instant the sea parted and the destructive wave rushed down upon them, washing the dark fields over with the color of metal. Just like a surge of water crashing down, like fire consuming a field, this proverbial sea roared with the faint, distinctive sound of that engine --- of bones rubbing against one another. And even as more and more Legion formed the vanguard, their numbers continued streaming in without end, standing as bloodcurdling evidence of how vast their forces were. The shadow spilled around them, as far as the eye could see, without a battle cry, as if the darkness itself threatened to consume them.

I am Legion, for we are many

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2. The Children Fight

With the battle starting, we get a small passage for each person distinguishing their specialties on the battlefield (not Shin):

Anju (Multiple-Launch Rocket Pad): The ability to predict the enemy forces' position and hit that group for the maximum possible damage with one blow. that was the weapon Anju had cultivated over four years of deadly battle with the Legion and was the reason she'd survived to this day.

Kurena (special 88mm sniper): Gunslinger, which was specialized for sniping, was equipped with a long-barreled 88 mm cannon designed to optimize ballistic stability and velocity. Its firearm-control and posture-control systems were also customized accordingly. All of that, coupled with Kurena's own talent for predictive sniping even in the face of the Legion's swift movements, left the research division struck with admiration for her accuracy ratio.

Raiden (heavy machine guns and autocannon): After fighting alongside Shin --- a vanguard who excelled at close-quarters combat --- for three years, Raiden inevitably found himself in this role, which required adopting this kind of equipment and tactics. And at the same time, a role that amounted to supporting the rest of his unit was perfectly suited for a kind of busybody like Raiden, who always kept an eye out for his comrades' well being.
...Not that he would ever admit that.

Theo (88mm gun, heavy machine gun, four pile drivers, and two wire anchors): Laughing Fox utilized wire anchors to achieve three-dimensional maneuvering. Even despite having to fight with a meager 57mm cannon in the Republic's abandoned land, the Eighty-Six made urban fighting their expertise. And they were often pitted against Lowe and Dinosauria --- whose only weak point required firing on them from above. these conditions, coupled with Theo's superior spatial perception, led him to this optimal answer. He knew he didn't have Shin's grappling skills to fight against the Legion in close-quarters combat and survive.

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3. An Image Shattered

As the Children are fighting on the battlefield, we get a couple of pages from Federica as she is trying to tell Shin that Kiri is not on the battlefield for some reason (page 165-166):

"Shinei... Kiri is absent"
No response.
Not wanting to believe that he didn't hear her, she found herself repeating those words.
"Kiri is absent from the battlefield"
No response.

Frederica felt all the blood rush to her head. Not out of anger... but out of unfamiliar terror.

"Can you not hear me, Shinei?! Kiri is currently---"

At that moment, the target of her eyes changed to the person she was thinking of right then, the one she called out to again and again. She could see a four-legged spider rushing through city ruins in the dark of night. Its white fuselage had lost its pearly sheen. Dirtied in uneven strokes of silver and metallic gray by gunpowder smoke, dust, and spurts of liquid micromachines --- the blood of the Legion he slew --- the machine's color was corrupted.

A sight she had seen once before flashed in her mind's eye. A FeldreB splashed with the red of slaughtered soldiers, and next to it a person smiling pleasantly --- with their black eyes frozen solid.

Princess

And even as he spoke to her, those cold eyes never once looked at her. And the two red eyes she could see within that white armor had the same gaze.

He forcefully drove his blade, which had already lost its capacity to vibrate, into the enemy, rushing to face his next foe without even regarding the fact that it had shattered. His gaze didn't waver even as a shell's short-range fuse burst, sending debris tearing into his cockpit and smashing one of his sub-screens. He directed all his consciousness into the enemy before him and nothing more, his red eyes frozen sharply

Frederica finally realized why he reminded her so much of Kiri.
It wasn't a matter of resemblance. They were the same. The two of them resembled each other so much because they were identical to their core.
you fool. The words spilled from her mouth noiselessly.
You are such a fool, Shinei. Even you do not understand.
Please stop.

"You mustn't fight when you get like this"

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3.5 The Fallen Valkyrie

During the repelling of the Legion forces, Shin and Company have to fight through the night. As morning finally comes, the soldiers of the Federacy can finally bear witness to the awe-inspiring fighting spirit of the 86 children... at least, until they can see what they do to maintain the fight.

Page 171-172:

The Reginleif, which took maneuverability to its utmost extreme, was lightweight and couldn't carry much ammunition. And when the supplies they carried from base began running out, they stole the ammo of downed consort units. The obedient mechanical corpse collector that served as their attendant rummaged through the corpses of the deceased for them, piling up mechanical entrails on the wayside as it did.

The Vargus who lived in the hold combat territories --- the Wolfsland --- during the Empire's rule and made the battlefield their home looked on at the Reginleif's fighting style with awe. They smirked even in the middle of mortal combat, filled with joy and relief at the sight of their reliable comrades.

But most of the Federacy's soldiers saw it very differently. Namely, those sitting in the command tank, who had received the optical feed via data link. The armored infantry. The officers who served as Operators and their superiors all looked at the battle with abject shock.
"The Eighty-Six... They're...!"

They were their young comrades, who were reduced to pigs in human form by their homeland and cast out into the battlefield by the Republic. They thought them to be pitiable children.. Deprived of their rights, stripped of their freedom, robbed of their families, their hometowns, and even their names. They were sent to the battlefield before they even had the chance to mature and were ordered to die a futile death at the end of their desperate struggles.

That's why everyone wished that, if nothing else, they could find happiness in the Federacy. And these children cut down that wish by their own hands.

They returned to the battlefield of their own will and plunged into even more lethal battle right now, before their eyes. They should not have had reason to fight, no homeland or family to protect, no ideal to cling to. And in practice, they weren't defending anything. They ignored the voices of allied troops who sought aid and cannibalized the corpses of dead comrades to continue fighting. As if they longed for nothing but war, battle without reason or meaning.

They weren't innocent children, wounded by persecution. The soldiers could only see them as monsters. Machines of Slaughter, bred in the Republic's crucible of hatred and violence. Demons of War that rejected all Salvation and Compassion, born as Man and twisted into Beast through no fault of their own. Their warped hearts were beyond saving.
"They're monsters...!"

And despite the fact that the Eighty-Six themselves could have very well heard that hoarse whisper breathed into the wireless, no one remained to condemn whoever uttered it.

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4. The Legion Retreat... and Shin is Tested

With the Legion retreating, honors are to be handed out... and amongst the people conferred these honors, was a person that controlled the probe that detected the Legion so early, and enabled the Federacy to mount a defense enough to push them back...

However, to quote page 174:

"That controller objected to the honors, claiming it wasn't he who'd scoped out the range in question. An officer had arrived, insisting he increase his vigilance over that area at all costs. He'd detected the Legion's advance force and sent the other sectors that instruction only because of that officer's persuasion.

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Cut to later in the Major General's quarters:

1. Shin has been confirmed to have been the one to tell that controller to be vigilant.
2. Skeptical of Shin's powers to detect the Legion, the Major General tests Shin... and he passes to such a degree that he detects forces that not even the Federacy had spotted.

3. The Major General probes Shin as to why he chose this method specifically. Shin was jeopardizing his position with the method he chose (it is implied that Shin Threatened the controller with his pistol drawn).

4. After hearing Shin's reply (it was the fastest method, and standard procedure would be too slow), the Major General gives this reply:

"That's not an answer. I'm asking why you didn't consider your own well-being... You're an Eighty-Six. Surely you'd think we could have treated you as an alerting mechanism or a guinea pig".

To which Shin says "Yes... But if I didn't we'd have lost to the Legion, and all would have been for naught.

The Major General's Reply: "I see. So you would put yourself at any risk if it meant you could slaughter your enemy. That's your... The Eighty-Six's answer. Truly, You are like a blade. You would resolve to be cut down, even if it meant you shattered in the aftermath.

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5. The Major General then directs Grethe to allow Shin to make reports to her if he ever detects threats like this again. Shin will have a direct line to send these reports to the Major General.

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5. The Storm after the Calm

As Shin is walking out of the Major General's office, we get a brief conversation with Grethe... but the importance is not this conversation, but Frederica's entry...

If you recall in point, 3. An Image Shattered, Frederica states that Kiri is not on the battlefield

...but why not?

The answer is so simple Shin thinks himself an utter fool for not figuring it out.

It's because Kiri has attacked Shin twice in Season 1 of 86... BUT FROM A GREAT DISTANCE.

Page 178:

A chill ran down his spine.
How, how could he have forgotten?
He'd encountered it twice already and knew it was the Legion's trump card. And despite that, he'd unconsciously stopped considering it a threat. And that was because somewhere in his heart he believed that even if it were to destroy a fortress far in the battlefield, or a country, or even humankind itself, it wouldn't truly influence him. That was true for him and for the Eighty-Six who made the battlefield their homeland. Those who had only the death of the enemy before them or their own death as their fate...

But the truth is, they never did escape the battlefield of the Eighty-Sixth Sector. He realized that now.
"Get down!" shouted Frederica. "Kiri is---"

Those words overlapped with the screech of a high-speed projectile tearing through the atmosphere and the earth-shattering shock waves of an extremely heavy mass's impact. A flash of blinding light glinted outside the window, painting the world white.

Ear-ripping reverberations that were so powerful they almost sounded like silence ripped through the air like the rumbling of thunder. The following shock waves shook the fortress down to its very foundations.

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6. The Silver Bell Rings, Foretelling Doom

August 25th, 23:17. This marks the day, in the military headquarters of the Republic of San Magnolia, that Lena alone swallowed in vague terror as she looked up at the footage of the holo-screen.

Ten years ago, when the Gran Mur Wall was being constructed, an alarm was set up in the military headquarters. It's objective? The Siren... was to alert the fall of the final defensive live.

To quote pages 181-183, and 186:

The footage showed the ruins of a structure in the shape of a wall, shattered from top to bottom, its destroyed concrete and armor plates large enough to cover a small house each. Due to the structure's size, the scars of its destruction were as massive as a ravine. And crossing over that ravine like a metal-colored stream was a massive army of multilegged machines built to maximize their potential for slaughter

Lena felt a shudder of horror rush up her spine.

"What is this, a movie? Looks cool."
"Someone turn off that siren; it's annoying".

She took a staggered step back, distancing herself from her colleagues, who wallowed in blissful ignorance because they were not aware of the crippling fear that they could inspire. The Republic had shut itself in, pushing the war onto the Eighty-Six for a decade now. The grand majority of its civilians --- even its military personnel --- had no knowledge of what their enemy even looked like. Lena was the exception, because she had seen them before.

We get a brief description of the damage the Gran Mur Wall took through camera footage:

"It was then that she suddenly realized. This disastrous sight of the Gran Mur, which looked as if it had been repeatedly beaten and crushed by this titan... As if it had been destroyed by bombardment.

And the name that Lena uttered for this new Long-Range Artillery type Legion?

"...Railgun." Lena whispered, pursing her lips.

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Lena then gets two calls on her Para-RAID, One from Shiden AKA Cyclops, the other from Annette of the Research Division.

"Lena! That siren just now...!"
"Letting you know just in case, Your Majesty! The Northern Front!"

"Yes, Annette. And I'm aware of the situation, Cyclops. They've finally come".

She changed her RAID Device's setting, allowing her to Resonate with all possible targets in range. Normally, a Handler would be allowed to Resonate with only one squadron, but Annette had cooperated with her over the past year to set up this hidden setting.
An army of ghosts of countless Eighty-Six the Republic had cast out and used up on the battlefield. If they were to fight back against it, they would need to consolidate all their forces. To fight back. To live on and answer the words they left behind.

"Bloody Reina to all Processors on all fronts!"

The Federacy Military officially dubbed it the Railgun type. This new type of Legion single-handedly toppled the Gran Mur and burned the Federacy's fortress base to cinders. It was what appeared on the last observed footage discovered in the headquarters' ruins...

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7. Lena and Jerome Clash... One Last Time

As Lena is departing the main hall after getting Annette and Cyclop's calls, she has two objectives:

1. She must deactivate the minefield in front of the Gran Mur Wall.
2. She must lower the gates of the Gran Mur Wall.

As she is going to accomplish her objective, her arm is gripped by a man, and she practically growls his name. Commodore Karlstahl. You know of this man as "Uncle Jerome", but Lena started addressing him by his rank after their dispute surrounding the aborting of Shin and Company's "Special Recon Mission".

Thus begins a back and forth between Lena and Jerome. L for Lena, K for Karlstahl.

L I'm going to deactivate the minefield and open the gate of the Gran Mur... I will gather all the squadrons inside the Gran Mur and intercept the Legion. If we do that, we still have a chance of surviving.

K Leave it. If they have to rely on calling the Eighty-Six for help, the Republic's citizens would be better off letting the Legion overtake them.

L At a time like this, you continue to spout such nonsense...!?

K The Eighty-Six won't fight for the Republic

That one sentence stung like a slap across the face.

K The Republic persecuted them, cast them out, and slaughtered them. They have an obligation to listen to our pleas for help... At most, they would sneer and say that we were getting what we deserved.

Lena gritted her teeth bitterly. That much was obvious.

L They may not be obligated to listen to us... but they still have a reason to. We have the power and production plants they need. They survived this long on the battlefield, and they know if they intend to keep fighting, our survival is necessary.

Karlstahl's scar-ridden face grimaced, like he had just witnessed something unbearable.

K If only it were that simple... Yes, at first, they might remain compliant. But they'll soon realize that fighting on their own is much more preferable to defending these useless citizens who know only how to complain and demand. And what do you think will happen then? If all that awaited the Republic citizens was a massacre, we would be lucky. But you've studied history, Lena. You know the consequences won't be anything so lenient. Especially for a young woman like you

Lena flinched for a moment, imagining the vivid implications of what he meant.
Still...
Her hand touched the breast pocket of her blouse, where she kept a letter and a photograph stored preciously in a waterproof cover. She cherished them at all times, even as the Legion drew closer by the day. Because they were the final words and sentiments theyhad left her.

L Even so... I don't wish to sit idly by and wait for death. Even if I die, beaten and powerless, I will fight until the end.

Just as they lived and died. Shin and the other believed she could live that way, too, and she didn't want to put that faith to shame.
The two pairs of silver eyes clashed for a long moment --- and it was Jerome who looked away first.
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It is noted at this point that Karlstahl is carrying an Assault Rifle, and is wearing Combat Boots.

L Commodore?!

K Dreaming is a privilege afforded by youth, Lieutenant Milize. And waking children up from their dreams... making them face the harshness of reality, and dying to defend those dreams... is the duty placed upon adults.
May you taste defeat, Lena. I pray that your childish dreams crumble in the face of reality.

L Wha---?!

She reached out to her "uncle's" back... but clenched her fist as she pursed her lips. She then clicked her boots together and saluted his back.

L May fortune be on your side, Commodore Karlstahl

Whispering those words to herself, Lena set out again through the darkened corridors of the military headquarters, the commodore's final words echoing in her heart. The letters she read time and time again carving themselves into her mind, beckoning her to come to their final destination like starlight shining through the blackness.

Yes, Shin
I will walk down the same path you did and find your final resting place, no matter the cost.

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In a chance moment of pause between the clashes of the rampaging Legion, Shin's consciousness was pulled away from the battlefield. He thought he could hear someone's voice. He was in the midst of a large Legion offensive, walking the razor's edge between life and death. but as he focused back on the battle in front of him, he'd all but forgotten about that voice.

He never once stopped to consider that it might be the last time he would hear "her" voice

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And that will do it. about 4100 words here. almost at the 25k character limit too. I congratulate you for getting this far. We will have much to look forward to with the start of Novel 3...

Until Next Week.

I like that your essay included the description of each of the 86s' unique skills/fighting styles, which we finally got a nice one-by-one demonstration of in anime form.

Was going to add that info if you ommitted it, so kudos to you.

in this episode, they gave everyone time to show us their skills

For those that want to ask questions, since my essay got put under moderation, you can use this post to get a reply from me.

Legion: "Boss! How can we destroy teh Republic of Magnolia?!"

Kiri: "Simple! First we kill their Plot Armor that is Shin. How? well you all go yolo yeet at the frontlines while I camp like a tryhard noob and steal all your kills :)

He does really kill steal!

Lol but Republic of Magnolia, the foolish and ignorant bastard's wonderland did get destroyed.

did Shin threaten an officer to mobilize the whole military?
and who are the other guys in Shin's squad, they appear to like Shin as a commander and are moving good as a unit

You don't get to know most of them, but the Older gray-haired gentleman known as Bernholdt is the newest member. We get to know more people by name come Novel 4.

In regards to who Shin threatened, it was said in the Novel that Shin threatened a "Probe Operator" to get him to recon the Legion. He told them to "remain vigilant on this area specifically, like your life depends on it".

It is implied that Shin pointed his gun at the Operator too... though the anime goes with Shin walking into a command unit and pointing his gun at a whole room worth of people.

I honestly don't know what causes this it happens to me all the time

Rip to your efforts and time to write those long essay just to get deleted.

Thank you for your service.

Oh it is no big deal. as long as people can still read it under the moderation.

I just can't seem to find any fault with Karstahl. I pretty much agree with most things he says.

One thing I find hard to believe is that the Republic doesn't have some kind of Trump Card besides the Eighty-Sixs. If they can have most of their military slack off like that and remain blissfully ignorant, I'm assuming they've got some kind of countermeasure should the Eighty-Six fail to hold them off.

But still 'Whoa, what's that? A movie.' is a bit too on the nose regarding ignorance. 10 years is not exactly long enough to just forget there is still a war going on. Or is that just it? They feel so untouchable that they just take such footage as entertainment.

We are not given a clear picture on the whole mindset of Alba, but the few that join Lena are in a minority.

When the Gran Mur Wall falls, most Alba blame the 86, some jump into Juggernauts and fight (die fast, because they haven't ever fought), and some just outright give up.

We even get a radical faction of Alba that emerge from all this chaos. Gotta check out Novel 4 to read it.

Karstahl has a good point. He has every right to give up on the Alba, after what he witnessed in his life. The question is, what would it take for Lena to give up? If she got to Shin and company's final resting place, and they were truly dead, would she stop?

We are only told in passing in Novel 4, but Lena's mom and Uncle Jerome do die in the Legion Assault. The mother and uncle are killed by the Legion.

Even her mom is fighting?

That would mean that Lena's workplace really is the top facility concerning itself with the safety of Alba. I found that a little hard to believe. I was assuming there was some secret sidebranch and perhaps units similar to the Legion they could rely on in an emergency. But I guess that was all just my wild delusion justifying what it would take for them to feel so safe. Welp... that's that, I guess. Even though that remains amazingly unbelievable from the standpoint of our own common sense. How can you possibly grow that complacent with such a threat looming just around the corner?

That's like living next to a nuclear country, but not being bothered at all you're in the blast radius.

ironically your line about "secret sidebranch" bears more fruit in later novels. In the case of the Alba, they would have had a great weapon to fight the Legion... but it came from an 86, and they overlooked it because they put their entire family in an internment camp.

You know, these things just happen right? One, Two, whoops, internment camp for you!

The more you hear about the Alba in later novels, the dumber and dumber they get.

so like the celestial bubble heads from One Piece?

Not necesaryly carthage collapsed as its base was not its own soldiers but mercenaries

That's interesting knowledge. I didn't know. Then again Carthage lacked the technology to create it's own army of drones or machines though. Between tech that doesn't betray & enslaved humans that hate your guts, I'd probably prefer the former. I'd at least want a loyal army of my own in case the enslaved manage to bare their teeth at their master. In case the Carthage mercenaries decide to turn on their customer, paying them more might get them to back off. But with slaves who managed to free themselves of their chains, only force will get them off your back. That much we can surmise from Spartacus's slave rebellion.

It's not even that San Magnolia lacks manpower like in the case of Carthage, they just don't seem to want to bother with war themselves. It would be like Rome who lets all the conquered people fight for them, while disbanding all their roman legions. A slave army without a punitive force of your own seems like a recipe for disaster.

Is there any significance on the letter that was left on Shin's cockpit? Also the smile after that, or was it a smile? What does it mean in the ln?

There is! The studio started a particular event early, and that letter is what makes Marcel such a hated character in the beginning!

"Don't Resonate with me unless you have to..."
This is something I don't understand. Weren't their Para-RAIDs removed via an operation? This device should have been the only way for the others to hear the legions through Shin.

Or could it be that only the ear pieces were removed while an implant in their body (maybe to kill the target if it doesn't follow the orders) still remains that makes them possible to still have a connection with Shin. But if that's the case, how are they able to control the sync rate?

And don't the Albas have control over the lives of the 86? If I remember correctly (although, I'm not very sure), the Para-RAID has an execution function that forces the 86 to follow their orders.

It would be great if you could clarify these things!

The ear piece was a sort of tracker and identifier. If an 86 went to an unauthorized area, or their ID didn’t match up with the database, the cannons on the Gran Mur wall would shoot.

As far as controlling the sync rate, it is never shown how they do it. The device looks like a simple “on/off” switch.

In regards to the new Para-RAID, the Federacy have developed new tech for them. The device you see by their ear (looks like a yellow and metallic colored hair pin next to the ear) that serves as the new device.

The old device was a crystal (I think) implanted near the spine to replicate the telepathy of the Pyrope race.

Ah, I thought that pin next to the ear was just a normal communication device. Seems I missed (or forgot) it when they mentioned that it was a new Para-RAID (I thought that they were still in development).

Ok, the cannons on the Gran Mur wall would probably explain why the Albas won't be able to control the lives of the 86 (and thus eliminating the likely outcome Lena's uncle mentioned) as they were likely destroyed during the raid of the legions (or maybe Lena did something against it. I mean she did say that she deactivated the mines).

Yet again, thanks a lot for that clarification!

You’re welcome.

Was new Lena's backstory ever explained? Like the red strand in her hair? Is it there just for looks or did something happen? Also when did she get the nickname of Bloody Reina/Regina?

The Bloody Reina and the red hair are explained in the novel, but it is a very subtitle reference in episode 12.

Passing comments by drunken soldiers talk about her.

Her title is from her alleged “trampling of 86 lives to dust” (when her stations result in the fewest deaths at all). She does run 86 soldiers ragged, but she helps as much as she can.

The red strand of hair is her memorial to Shin and company, so she’ll never forget them.

can u elaborate more on shin's origin, power and family and 86?
also, why do the republic has diff hair color from 86? is it the 86 homeland?

The 86 is a blanket term given to all Non-Alba. The author does use various terms for other races (Onyx, Pyrope, Spinel, etc). The use of a person's race is meant to identify them with a certain nation.

In regards to Shin, his father is an Onyx from the Giad Empire, with his mother being a Pyrope also from the Empire. They eloped to the Republic if San Magnolia after they heard word of their marriage being denied by the Nouzen clan.

The Patriarch of the Nouzen clan (what would be Shin's grandfather) is actually the one that sent Shin and Shourei the "Sword Knight" picture book they loved.

Shin's powers come from his two parents' bloodlines. His mother gave him his telepathy powers, and his father is responsible for his enhanced combat abilities

In regards to the hair color, you can think of that as a bloodline trait. The Republic has silver hair because of the region, and you find more various hues as well. Anju is an example of this, as she is still an Alba, but falls under the category of "Adularia" with her Silvery Blue hair.

Lena falls under the "Celena" category of Alba, as she has both Silver Hair and Eyes.

Thank you very much, u have my ultimate respect and service if u ever need one.
You are my savior.
I just can't express how much I needed that explanation.
Thank you Typecero-kun.
PS: I always read ur essays to further understands the ep, you have helped me more than once.

I am glad to help.

That’s the goal with these essays, to answer questions in the hopes you want to engage with the media more.

Do you think lena and shin will meet this season or not?

Eventually, yes. You’ll see then reunite with a very touching speech.

So does " Celena " means she is the highest form of Alba or also considered lower ?

Lower I would say. I believe she is a "mud blood" you could say.

Silvery-Blue Hair compared to Lena's Silver Hair would stand out amongst the crowd.

You can consider Anju "half Alba" in the eyes of pure-blooded Alba...

Though I would challenge that notion.

It's amazing how different it is when someone actually gives them support. "They're monsters." Nah dude they are battle hardened veterans that had to fight with no support and are essentially the Elite. The best of the best.

copied the whole post just in case

The videos are now taking up more space in a folder than the files for the 720p episodes.

Yeah it's honestly feels like wearing a noose when typing long reviews one wrong move it's goodbye comment you spent hours on. I don't think it's reporting either it's just the site settings not actual people reporting it that's the issue here.

if this is true then why don't the moderation team just ban them, when a comment is flagged it tells them who did it. its a rather simple solution ;)

Nice essay, but can you explain this? You wrote "He never once stopped to consider that it might be the last time he would hear "her" voice", does this mean Shin knows Lena can make it to them?

It's a bit of a conundrum. You could take it as meaning "he thought he was hearing things", but you could also view it as "maybe it was just him voicing a wish, and it being said out loud".

It is not known if Shin truly heard Lena's words, but we have been given visuals that indicate Lena is still on his mind. Last episode especially had alot of symbolism of the "Raven staring at the moon". The Moon being Lena, and the Raven being Shin.

I mean, we know Lena is still on Shin and Raiden's mind, because of last episode when Raiden asked Shin how he thinks she's doing or something like that

Yep. There was an implication of the Moon being Lena, and Shin being the Raven. And the episode ends with a Raven looking at the Moon.

Oh yeah, does Raiden know how Lena looks like? If I'm not wrong, near the end of season one, Lena resonated with Raiden so she could she the battlefield, and for a split second her screen was shown to Raiden

Well I guess there is a possibility that Raiden knows what she looks like, given what you pointed out.

Though we’re not told one way or the other that he reacts to it.

(I can't respond to your original comment, so I'm responding here)
Could this artillery be the same one that took out 4 of Shin's unit before they even got close, thus forcing them to retreat?

That it is. Same artillery.