I gotta say, I really liked how they hatched this escape plan. We used several tools that were established in previous episodes (the airtight suit, the breathing mask, the laser cutter). The trio were also DISCUSSING things before they did it, deciding on what to do and not do.

Been a while since I have seen characters so thoughtful with their actions, and that redheaded soldier actually gives off vibes of a competent villain!

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I am kinda iffy on the Black Armor faction though.

...The one thing I am kinda worried about is the reason for this warmongering faction. I don't want to chalk this all up to "because they are bad guys for this anime" like most series do, but ask yourself this:

When you consider the state of the world in Kaina of the Snow Sea, doesn't it seem kinda wasteful for our two factions to be fighting like this?

Not that I don't understand the need for resources that our Black Armor faction has, but when I think about the WHY... I want to assume that someone has to be doing something more than that.

Maybe they are chopping down the Canopy Stems for more than just resources? Perhaps they think if they chop down enough a positive outcome will occur? I am about 75% sure based on how they portrayed the Black Armor faction in the beginning of this episode that they are purposefully chopping down Canopy Stems.

That's not to say that the White Armor faction is any better. I know they are doing better surviving (they are using FAR less wood than the floating Island we just saw in this episode), but when your Princess is the only one that believes in the Sage legend enough to even attempt to go to Canopy, I do have to wonder what you are doing?

I mean, it may be just a legend, but what else do you have going for you currently? Just live on while this Black Armor faction is picking off village after village?

From what we learned last episode, the water level of this world is rising (there were several buildings completely submerged to the point it suggested it was YEARS ago), so when I see the White Armor faction building their homes taller, and nothing else, It makes me think of a person climbing a mountain with no gear (called Free soloing). Yes, they can build taller, but eventually you will be submerged just like the other cities.

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What I am waiting for is not for this current rescue arc to be over (I love everything that is happening so far), but I want to see a connection that we are missing:

We have our two characters that can see the "Green creature", but we are missing a reason outside of the obvious "I'm in danger" to go seeking the clues to the Sage.

I feel the anime is going to introduce someone that knows more about the Sage Legend, and will give our two characters a reason to go looking for it. Whether they do that as just a duo or not is whatever, but We don't currently have anything to start the "Sage Questline" outside of the ability to see this creature.

So once we make it out of the Fire Nation Capital... perhaps someone can come by and say something other than "Another settlement needs your help. I'll mark it on your map."

The black armor faction act more like pirates. Just stealing and pillaging other nations for their water and resources. The admiral even have the captain hook hand.

No, they are nomads - pirates are merely criminals robbing shipping from some sort of base, while Valgnhia described as a powerful state which can conquer settled states.

Hook hand obviously are here for "evilness" score, underscore that enemy faction leader are so brutal and hardcore.

Their escaped plan is too convenient to be honest. It seems to be well thought plans at first but at the same time, it's not. It's full of lucks and plot convenient, especially when their hand literally on the rim of ship with the rod on their back, soldier about to open then closed the cargo, and when they moved the cargo picked up on the top of the cargo with 3 people + gears in it, not only that their voice literally jumped out at first and then they noticed the second one instead the first one where it should be louder with obvious reason.

I think the part with the boat was pretty clever, but yeah the part with the box was super lucky.

Boat was silly too, because other ships following in formation should check the surrounding to avoid collisions and maintain the distance.

So their watchman must've checked the boat in front of them, saw that it was empty and then signaled to flagship that they lost their boat.

Also very strange that ships sailing visually have no one on deck, to watch for collisions with other ships or debris. All too convenient for the escape plan.

indeed forced plot convenience. its so cringey.

For now the main reason given for war has been the water supply. Back when they were still with Kaina's family, Ririha explained that the trees are outputting less and less water, this new "empire" of sorts is taking smaller nations over for it, and whatever liquid or vapor makes out the Snow Sea isn't exactly usable/drinkable/etc. The last part is my surmission, and it seems that Ririha's people have lost even more technology than Kaina's village.

Laughed at "stealth sequence" at the ending - box was put in front row, there are people working around but somehow they didn't noticed that 3 person climbed out of box (part which was skipped, MC trio shown already away from the "sneak box" in the next scene). Good that bureaucracy are lacking and no one decided to check box contents, to sign something like invoice. Loaders are blind or giving 0 care that 3 differently dressed people crouching in the corner of unloading area.

If in the next episode crew of Valgnhia did not notice that box that supposed to be full became empty while loaders carried full box it will be large plot hole.

when you treat your employees like shit. they don't give a shit.

I figured it out... They're all living inside a big testicle!
And this is the story of one Sperm's journey.

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea`men

It would explain all the white!

A low blow to all mankind there. But I'd buy it >.>

I must say that really low number of sperm over there.... Whatever it be, must been jacking off lately...

Survivors of "The Great Purge!"

Hahaha man what a joke. I'ma commit suddoku now.

you're going to kill yourself with a math puzzle game? ow. that's gonna hurt! just go jump off a bridge or in front of a big train moving fast. it'll be over quicker that way instead of trying to papercut your wrists to death. :>

Jesus christ that opening was so dark I thought I had started a Zack Synder movie!

Lol

This episode gave us another indication that the sea snow is a gas and not a liquid. Just look how Kaina pass thru the sea snow when he got on the boat. Nothing was dripping nor is he soaked of any liquid.

I do like how there was a well thought out plan in the rescue. All the character are aware of their surrounding. Yaona looking around for shelter and a hiding spot on the boat. Kaina being aware that striking the lock with a sword would produce too much noise and Liliha realizing the small boat would get them caught right away and using it as a distraction instead.

Admiral: omae wa mou shindeiru
Me: Nani?!

You just noticed it in this episode? They literally got off the Snow Sea without getting wet since the very beginning of the episodes when they escaped through the Snow Sea.

People have been constantly criticizing the story of why they can't melt the snow for water or the physic doesn't look right. Just wanted to point out to those people that it's not a mistake by the animator but part of the plot.

changing sides incoming?

That Red-headed girl definitely gives vibes of "I was once a captive" to me.

You may be onto something, now that I see the episode beginning again.

Look at the hair color of the man in the cage…

Remind you of anyone?

yeah that's the end of the match. we don't want the players to have to stare into the Sun that whole time. :> don't jump over the net, that's just rude. :>

I wanna see those old people from above the canopy, skydiving down and tearing $hit up!

I cant wait for the Psycho General to die. it feels like he is a driving force behind this war. he wants war instead of coming to a agreement. maybe? i might be wrong but thats my feeling. im ready to see the king of the black faction and see what kind of ruler they are.

war for profit. if you didn't noticed their country is way richer than where the princess came from. which I can only assume the reason it got rich is through raping and pillaging the poorer countries.

How two guys can carry a wood box of that size that was supposed to be full of items it's beyond my understanding ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ There are couple of plot conveniences, like the soldier stopping to search just in that precise moment or they managing to go out of the box at plain sight, but I will not complain too much about them. The villain is too cliché for may taste, and his voicing so-so. But I still like Amerote, but I fear she can end switching sides.

Despite all, I enjoyed the today episode. I'm glad the main characters are just regular people without any super-ninja skills. But what I like the most and what makes me keep watching this anime, it's the setting. The opening is also one of my favorites this season.

The part about the guys carrying that box gets a little bit more believable if you do a bit of research on industry workers around a century or more ago. I recently watched a documentary on bakers in the 1800s, in one of the re-enactment episodes they went through old media(photos), of very skinny-looking men in their 40s-60s carrying big bags of flour while doing loading/unloading of supplies and deliveries. The men involved with the re-enactment tried to replicate the activity, and one of them of a similar age as the man in the photo strained his back while just trying to get the bag onto his back. With help from another man in his 30s.
Back in the day people would force themselves to adjust to very harsh working conditions(this is likely to be still the case in underdeveloped countries), and even if they ran on very low( quality) sustenance, and looked thin, they were hardened. That being said, this exacerbated effort would take its toll on their health and life expectancy in the long run.

I also like Amerotte, and it's exactly because of her showing signs of a decent level of intelligence and proneness to changing sides, she seems to be observing matters to weigh her pro and cons for being with either side. And her desire for survival might make her choice for her. If the Atlandeans have access to better resources for a safe lifestyle, she'd waste her efforts with the opnly psycho admiral and his ilk.(Though I have a feeling that the commoners of Valghia are just about as innocent and normal as Ririha's or Kaina's people.
She's clearly intrigued with the Atlandese/Atlandeans, especially now that they have a very clever agent who whisked the smarty-pants princess away.

You are free to think that's pretty accurate portrait of how two "hardened" workers move a wood box of that size with 3 teenagers inside full equipped :) I have nothing to object to that.

@PorPorthya whipped out my flexible measuring tape for tailoring on this one. :> i'm a 46y/o male at 5'8" tall and Caucasian with a very slender build.

100lbs a kid, girl might be lighter. probably 20lbs in gear and clothes each. 360lbs, max of 400lbs load in that container. that isn't thin plywood the crate is made of either! looking at the lid and sides as the kids clamber in and the sailor opens it that lumber is around 3" thick. it is probably about 5' high. each kid at the shoulders is probably 20" wide so the crate is around 60-70" long. sitting with their knees to their chests and measuring from toes to spine/back (including boots) would be around 40" so that's how wide the container is.

NO OUTSIDE HANDLES! so, two guys? no. i don't care if they are 1700's longshoremen at a busy seaport during The Age of Sail. without a rope harness tied around that crate they aren't even picking it up off the deck without a lever to pry up one end/side so they could get their fingers underneath it. that's why even back then we used wooden derricks with rope and pulley systems. an animal would pull on one end of the rope, like a mule or horse. or a man in a 'hamster wheel' attached to the derrick would walk in either direction inside to tighten or loosen the rope. then the load in question would have guide ropes tied to it to swing the load off the ship and two to five men would rotate the derrick at its base to get the load away from the ship onto shore or vice versa.

now, an 'even haul' with zero elevation change, like this ship and port? wooden skids, like a kid's snow sled. the crate would be set inside the frame. or log rollers and the crate is towed down the pier with ropes.

London longshoremen were famous for carrying ONE full cask by themselves, for VERY short distances. the 15th Century Old English term hogges hede (hogshead today) cask contained 63 (modern) US Gallons. the contents alone would weight 8.34 US lbs/G or 525lbs or so. fluid weight of course. that would be done utilizing a rope harness tied around the cask as well.

do a smidge more research on maritime practices next time. :)

I don't find that research necessary since we don't live in either era. Nor have the same diet and life or working habits as any of those people, thus, it's expected to not have the same muscular constitution either.
My whole point is that there was leg room for stretching credibility since at given points in history people have been able to perform such tasks while having diminutive and frail looking bodies. With given drawbacks to their health and lifespan, but the story is already at the point where Valghia is shown to burn through people like matchsticks and find those workers easily dispensable.
I could anecdotally tell you of my own experience(as a relatively frail built woman) with physical hauling of too much or too big items cause work demands it and you either strain yourself and hurt all over for days after, or quit and starve. Did it have long term effects as well?

Oh yes it did, and I'm sure the situation's all the same with these characters. For various reasons, even other than wartime violence, none have long life expectancy, the animators simply didn't bother to add to their CGI the visual inherent effects, just like they didn't make the water look as dirty as it supposedly smells inside the fortress.

mkay. fine by me.

Fair enough :)

Urgh they were sööö sloppy. At least close the lid after they escaped :/

noice:]

Nice episode

19:32 "you have to look within yourself, to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself" - Amerote's tea-drinking uncle, probably!

is the water in here just like skypiea(pure clouds)? i mean, why cant they distill and drink the water?

Because it's not water

it's a heavy gas and the "snow" is just bubbles of said gas surrounded by a film of unknown origin.

Indeed Kaina....you have officially reached the land of Valghia. Doesn't seem like it's going to be a happy stay by any stretch of the imagination...😬😬😬

Somehow, this episode gives me a star wars new hope vibes. Especially, that cover photo, very star warsy.

those asshole hitting ririha 🤬

Kaina got laser technology... he should MacGyver the sh!t outta that and build a bigger one to blast them bad guys away.

Kaina was raised a pacifist. He isn't inclined to develop weapons yet. Let him taste the bitter taste of loss then ask that.

well that was intense asf

Am enjoying this series alot more than I originally thought I was going to.