Oh wasn't expecting this, anyway

ahem

Hail Mary full of grace punch that demon in the face!

That aside, yep. We've hit the turning point episode and dear God what a way to do it. Things can only escalate higher and higher in the immediate future. I was admittedly surprised we were doing this at Episode 7 of all places since I would've assumed it would've been saved for like Episode 10 or later, closer to the halfway point.

Oh for sure. It makes me wonder if the story is gonna be handled similar to Crimson Moon, where despite being one continuous show it essentially had two "seasons" worth of storylines.

Sadly not the Knight from Dynazenon.

However I'm not all that broken up about it because frankly this episode was hype as hell!

This was essentially an entire action movie in the span of 20 minutes, and damn near every aspect of that was pulled off extremely well. The personal vendettas of the character involved, the choreography, and tone, all of it.

Turns out that the Dark Knight here actually used to be the Silver Knight, which, given we've had two different Silver Knights across this little sub-franchise now could mean anything in terms of his original armor. And ontop of that, something tells me this ain't some new version of Zex either.

But yeah, this episode was nonstop action from start to finish and I was totally into every second of it. The choreography especially was incredibly stylish ontop of being bombastic, and while the shakey-cam is present, it's kept to a minimum so as to be able to still let the viewer easily take in everything that's going on. All of this only further enhanced by the absolutely kickin' soundtrack!

That really doesn't leave much to say in terms of the plot, but, man. If you're lookin' for a pure adrenaline rush, this episode is definitely a way to get one.

Yeah there really isn't much to say in regards to the plot as this was basically all hell breaking loose from the prior episode.

Vanishing Line definitely knows how to hold its budget because there's definitely a sense of "huh, the fights are kinda quick these past few episodes..." since they aren't like too flashy and such and I'm pretty sure Sword doesn't don his armor for long or at all in some of them.

Then you've got this just no holds barred brawl between him and Knight in their armor for like an extremely long period of time, with some Luke in there and man... poor Luke. If I recall he gets rather messed up in this episode as a result of this fight. But yeah, it's insane and this might just be the most collateral damage caused in the franchise too given how many city blocks were just being smashed into because of this fight.

Also yeah, I believe Knight's armor in this is once again, original. Just like how each era of Garo has their own exclusive Knights, each anime in their particular era has their own exclusive Knights as well. The one constant is Garo.

He put up a valiant fight, but yeah, dude got destroyed. I was rooting for him too.

The advantage of anime over live-action! But yeah, not only was the massive collateral quite the spectacle, but it was cool to see the story acknowledge that, with this taking place in more modern times, the entire event was damn near impossible to keep quiet unlike your average Horror attack.

It does make me wonder if all of the GARO anime are meant to be in the same continuity or not, given that they never really directly reference eachother. Highly doubt they're canon to the live-action shows though.

With the city in utter disarray, Sword and Sophie head out west to find El Dorado.

A big part of this episode involves the two leaving their old lives behind in order to further their missions and their bond, and I dug it.

Now, granted, stuff like this is usually best saved for a halfway mark of a story, but in the case of Vanishing Line, I do feel that they offered just enough to get me to buy into it, especially since I've been liking these characters so far.

While unexpected, the musical montage at the halfway point was rather nice, and general tone and atmosphere of the episode in general was rather well done. The bit at the end with the deer, while sure, a bit on the nose in regards to symbolism of Sophie and the head Sister, was rather effective.

It's the sort of episode that so easily could've had me rolling my eyes throughout the entire thing had I not been liking the cast; Heck, another show I finished recently trying to pull something like this at episode 9 would've made me incredibly annoyed. But here? While not the best example of something like this I've seen, still overall worked for me.

I don't exactly have a good way of ending this off other than saying that the episode was nice, so instead, have a random tidbit: I realized earlier today that Knight really reminded me of someone. And who is that someone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjpdM1TTp90

He's literally just the Vanguard class from Dungeon Fighter Online.

Yeah, it was definitely surprising to see the series take this turn into a more... direct storyline per say. Since we now have a very big end goal laid out for us and it's only Episode 9. There are still plenty of mysteries and character arc's to go through, but they really aren't hiding what we'll be doing alongside those.

That being said, good breather episode for after what happened.

looks at video

From what little I remember of Knight's fights... oh God you're right.

It really does make me curious as to how things are gonna play out with Luke, given the state that he's currently in. Especially since Knight is far more interested in fighting Garo again.

This episode was a really nice surprise all around.

Like, I didn't actually expect an episode that focused so heavily on the relief efforts put forth after Knight tore the city apart.

But it makes sense, given that it provides a vehicle for Luke, the center character of the episode, to reflect upon his past as well as what exactly it is that motivates him to fight Horrors.

And really helping with that is how both the A plot and the B plot are equally engaging, especially given they both help to develop Luke's' character. Even his interactions with Mei Fong were rather nice, although I would liked to have seen more of them as kids, given Mei Fong's' claim of them being childhood friends.

Knight being Luke's' father makes alot of sense, and the reveal of just how exactly the murder of Luke's' mother played out adds a totally new layer to Luke's' behavior; mixing in an element of self-loathing to his rather seclusive attitude. And really, him learning to have more empathy through how good it feels to do good deeds was a nice arc to watch.

It's also in this episode that we finally learn the name of the city that the show has taken place in so far: Russell City. Which I suspect is in Texas? It's about all I can think of in terms of where exactly Vanishing Line is supposed to take place. If anyone has any definitives on that lemme know.

With all of that out of the way, Luke now also heads out west. Very curious to see if he meets up with Sword or if he ends up on his own adventure.

Okay here we go.

Like I was pretty alright on Luke during my first watch of this, and I was really curious as to where they'd go with him. But it's definitely the episode before last and this episode that really sold me on him.

The dude trying his hardest to fight Knight and getting the worst out of the two who directly fought him and then seeing how that fight and the situation surrounding that fight shapes him for his future as a Makai Alchemist. Like I said, there's a reason why Luke's probably the top of my list in terms of the four main characters in this show and this is one of the episodes why, just an all around good one.

It's also good world building in a sense, having us take time away from the "main mission" to catch up on an ally and how the major fight that pivoted the story was big for not only the main cast but all of the minor civilians around them.

Like I said before, the fight in Russel City is quite possibly the largest collateral damage we see in GARO just from the sheer scale of it. So it's also nice to see what exactly occurs after something of that scale impacts every day life.

Yeah, it even does a great job showing why he became an Alchemist without explicitly stating it. Though given the established rules of the setting(or atleast, given the first anime), it does make me think that there's a chance that Luke could don the Silver Armor in the future.

Yeah, this show definitely takes place in Texas.

The setup is that a town is convinced that Sword has kidnapped Sophie, and Makai Knights aren't exactly allowed to kill humans, so things get hairy pretty quick.

The episode is just an all around fun one, really. From Sword's' antics while evading the townsfolk, to Zaruba's' sarcastic quips, to Gina showing up out of nowhere to save the day. This was a good breather from all the drama we've been hit with.

And if plot is a big concern, this does not only get Gina joining the party but also introduces the group to Bishop, who's also in command at El Dorado. This was the second episode now where the Horror slaying at the end was more of a footnote to everything else.

And, well, that's about all there is to it? Not that that's bad at all though. Again, this episode was overall just a fun ride, and I'm always down for that.

Ah yes, we've entered road trip mode as it's not just a simple matter of our heroes reaching El Dorado through a montage.

Gotta make some stops along the way to make this trip memorable if you will.

I'll admit I did enjoy this episode from a comedic standpoint. Purely because like, you know what, it's reasonable that these folks could believe something like that and also I find it funny seeing the entire town just band together with a slew of weapons to try and stop Sword who is desperately trying to not get violations by breaking Makai Code.

Overall a fun start to our road trip at the very least. Though admittedly, as someone who has traveled to other cities for conventions, any thing that has a road trip in it usually gets a buff of some kind to me.

So what you're telling me is that Road Trip is one of your favorite movies. Not bad.

It's a classic horror movie setup: A rundown motel in the middle of nowhere.

And really, that's kinda what this episode is? No investigation, no extended action scenes, just our heroes resting in a motel and dealing with what comes.

That's all nice enough, and the main plot about the family who runs and lives in said motel is all well and good, but they feel rather undercooked with so much screen time given to our current main trio.

Not that I'm complaining too much though given that this episode actually gave me the biggest laugh in the show so far. It's not Sword's' obsession with boobs, it's not even how he feels the need to justify it as though he's some grand holy monarch, no, it's that he's so dedicated to making Sophie understand his kink that he feels the need to go into explicit detail even when locked in another room! Just, that is DEDICATION right there.

That aside though, overall the episode was just okay. Like I said, the family didn't get much development beyond being a very basic broken home story, and the bit with Sophie learning that Makai can't get too involved with those they save is something that I felt should've been self-evident, though I guess she specifically never learned that lesson, so it's fine.

Nothing really wrong with this one, but nothing other than that great comedic bit makes it particularly stand out either.

Yeah I'll admit I don't have much to say about this episode, it was fine enough but nothing particularly interesting.

And again the most I remember from it are two things, Motel Horror, and Sword's proclamations of Oppai. Dude's dedicated I'll at least give him that.

This episode reminded me alot of Golden Sun at first.

But then I got to the end with the reveal that the King of El Dorado has an ring that corrupts people and it turned out that the whole show is actually The Lord of the Rings in disguise.

The setup is that Gina takes Sword and Sophie to Ferre Sal? Dessimo, an ancient village where Makai Alchemists gather and live.

And it's at this village that they not only seek further intel on El Dorado, but where I now wonder if Vanishing Line was dubbed by a different group from The Animation and Crimson Moon. In the first two anime the term was pronounced "maa-doe" whereas here they pronounce it "muh-dow."

That aside, the atmosphere is overall really great with this episode. From all of the mystical going-ons with the Land of Guidance, to the montage with the villagers, and then of course that exposition dump at the end, it's all pulled off fairly well especially with the hook about how Sophie is going to be just as major of a player in all of this as Sword and Gina are.

Speaking of Gina, the action climax totally belongs to her in this one, and I think that, had it not been for just how utterly bombastic the Sword vs Knight battle was, this would absolutely be the best action sequence in the show so far. The choreography was on point and really showed just how cool archery and magic can really be when done well(take notes, PirateTrain). Her declaration of dedication to her life as a Makai Alchemist was just the cherry on top.

This episode is also where we get out second opening and ending of the show, and as much as I love JAM Project, I think I actually like these slightly more than the first set, both in terms of music and visuals. It's not by much, but it they're a little more akin to my tastes while also still having that stylistic flair that I've grown to love from the OPs and EDs of the various GARO anime.

This was just a really nice episode all around. But we're not exactly off to El Dorado itself just yet, seeing as the Ancient Makai Spirit directed the group to yet another town. Makes me wonder how many more stops until we finally reach the intended destination.

Well you know what they say, the journey is just as important as the destination.

That being said, ah right the usual second opening change over and really the only vocal opening in the series to not be done by Jam Project. EMG was pretty low on my Jam Project OP list anyway, so I will agree I do like the changeover to the new OP tbh. I also like the visuals, really nice if I'm being honest.

As for this episode... probably my favorite Gina episode? There's just something nice about us getting a detour with her and her showing her chops as she completes the trial and stuff. This episode and if I recall, a few other moments later is why she currently is like fighting at like 2nd place with Sophie for like my favorite of the main cast. Which would clue you in that Sword lands at #4, which isn't a bad thing. Dude's pretty solid but I do think the showstealers this time are his supporting Main Cast members.

Also it's cool to see how Makai Alchemists/The Makai Order go about things and how they have specific villages where their kind gathers, etc. They definitely have a much cozier life than everyone in Carved Seal of Flames in which it was just the Witch Hunts but with Knights and Alchemists.

It is definitely cool how, despite this season taking place in "the future" all of medieval elements that defined the previous two anime are still very much in place. Like, the Alchemist Village is even outright stated to be "preserving the old ways."

Though this does make me wonder... where the heck are The Watchdogs? We're halfway through the show and they're like, nowhere to be seen.

Well whatever. Gina has definitely grown on me. Every episode of hers is way better than her intro episode, for sure.

This is my favorite episode so far.

Turns out that Luke stopped by the Land of Guidance too, and during his trial was sent to a town in the middle of nowhere that has a sealed Horror in it.

But this isn't just any Horror, it's one that used to be a Makai Knight. And while Luke is no Knight himself, he most certainly displays the qualities of one all throughout this episode.

This is an episode that just had everything going for it. The side characters of the week, Stella and her grandpa, are well developed and likable characters, and their chemistry between eachother, the local villagers, and Luke made for some really fun interactions.

Luke's' character development is also on full display here, what with him getting directly involved with Stella's' family and showing great empathy for the girl. The battle against the Horror displaying what he learned from both of his parents made for a great sequence too even if it was short. Heck, he at one point get hit so hard that his ponytail just flies off!

The episode is also surprisingly funny, containing what I feel is the best comedy in the show so far with both great slapstick as well as visual gags(Stella having like a dozen spare glasses), which in turn really helps with the overall atmosphere. Plus, we get to see that Luke has a cool bike! And it's cooler than the Zaruba bike! I can't imagine any Luke fans forgetting such a cool detail!

The ending might be bittersweet, but not only is it for the best, it goes to show that despite Luke realizing that Sword had a point, he and Sword are still different and handle these situations differently at the end of the day.

Also, funny how the Knight who sealed the Horror away was a past Silver Knight. That makes like, what, four different Silver Knights now across all the various anime? Wonder if his name started with a Z too?

But yeah, this was a great one, and I think it's gonna be rather hard to top.

When I think about favorite episodes of GARO, for Vanishing Line at least, this is definitely my favorite of the show.

Like I said, Luke is like my favorite character out of the main four, and that's also because he gets some real good standalone/isolated episodes. While the others definitely get their own focus episodes (See Gina last time), Luke's most recent 2 we've had at this point are probably the most interesting since he isn't really interacting with any of the other main three in them.

The fight at the end is short, but really sweet. The speech Luke gives, alongside him losing his ponytail, it's very symbolic of the growth he's gone through, and he's definitely come out a changed man for the better. Also I love the symbolism/showing of how past generations even if they're no longer here, live on in the strength of/pass on their strength to others, with all the unnamed Knights giving their strength to Luke so that he could finish off the Horror once and for all.

Again, real good episode!

Also haha yeah, he definitely does have a cool bike. I'd hate to be the dude who forgot that.

Agreed. A t the rate things are going, Luke might become my favorite as well.

An interesting departure from the norm.

This one is all about world building in that we not only get to actually see the city of El Dorado for the first time, but none of the main characters even show up.

As one might've guessed, the city itself is a feeding ground for Horrors in the guise of a happy land where dreams come true and wealth is commonplace. All of which is protected by a trio of Knight, a magical businessman, and a poorly dressed Makai Alchemist woman. Perfect setup for our trio of heroes to fight.

And while it was cool to see the city's' inner workings in action, I also don't know that it was strictly necessary? Alot of it was stuff that was easy to infer given the context of previous episodes especially in regards to how Horrors tend to be.

But the effort was there, and it did atleast show a bit more of the dynamics between the evil trio, so those are things that I do appreciate in the end.

Probably one of the more interesting episodes of the show purely because of the insight we get into El Dorado and it primarily being an antagonist focused episode.

Which is interesting cause I don't think we've fully gone this far before in GARO. We've had heavy antagonist focused episodes, in fact one of my favorite episodes from a live action season has heavy antagonist focus. Though even with these episodes you usually see the main cast in some way, shape, or form.

But yeah I can get not being too wowed by this episode, after all, the last one was a banger. Still it is interesting though.

Didn't like the setup for this one, but the payoff was fantastic.

The setup being that Sophie being a brat causes the party to split for a day so everyone can have a chance to rest before reaching El Dorado.

The few scenes that Sophie and Gina have are a bit of a drag, but thankfully most of this episode is all about Sword's' adventure in a primarily Mexican town, wherein he meets a man named Pedro.

Pedro and Sword both get some great interactions and development here, as they are both men driven by the loss of loved ones in their lives. The primary difference being that Sword has learned to deal with his pain in a much healthier way than Pedro has.

The episode is so focused on character development here that there isn't even a Horror to fight at the end. Just a light skirmish with a local gang that controls a big part of the town. That said, the punch that Sword delivers was really hype and more than made up for the lack of action in this one. No real comedy to speak of though.

There was also a brief cameo of the same Watchdog chick from the previous two GARO anime, which was nice. And assuming that they're all meant to be in the same continuity that means that this chick really likes to move around. Oh, and all of the Spanish the dub inserted into the script gave me a solid giggle, because it meant that they got away with alot of swear words that I imagine they wouldn't've been able to do in English.

But yeah, this was a nice one. My Mexican blood is pleased.

Tbh, when it came to this episode upon first seeing the title again I was like "Oh right this episode" in which I completely forgot how it started up.

Since I pretty much only remembered the parts with Sword and Pedro and also how this episode definitely felt like a calm/breather episode. And given we're a little over halfway through the show now, it's probably needed.

Sure. My only hope now though is that, what with El Dorado being dangled infront of us for a solid chunk of episodes now, I just hope we reach the destination sooner rather than later.

Have you been feeling as though Vanishing Line hasn't had enough action?

Well in your FACE, because this episode is nonstop action from start to finish in what can only be described as Mad Max: Garo.

And yeah, it's a real good sequence of events from start to finish. El Dorado decides to take the fight to Garo as they send a legion of Horrors at our heroes. Mostly possessed cars, but some kite-esque Horrors too.

Highlights include Sword becoming Garo in mid-air, Sophie getting to shoot a Mado Gatling Gun, Gina showing off her sick driving skills, and Luke meeting up with the party to go full Devil May Cry on the oncoming hoarde. And then there's Zaruba...

Zaruba displays far more heroism and empathy here than he did in either of the previous two anime: Talking Sophie down when she's upset, and then proceeding to perform the ultimate sacrifice when Knight shows up while everyone else is busy fighting a gigantic Horror. And I won't lie, his death did hit me pretty good. Not bad for a talking ring/bike.

Although, the exact logistics of what happens after that leaves me a little confused. Sword absorbing Zaruba's' soul into the Golden Armor to upgrade it... was that really an option all this time? Is Zaruba no longer needed to help keep everything functioning properly? I mean, given he'd been able to be transferred into a bike I guess not, but after the rules established by Carved Seal of Flames and Crimson Moon it kinda threw me off a bit.

Still, the emotional impact is there, especially if you've been watching the anime in release order like I have. And I think the episode really works overall.

I'm glad to see that despite only knowing Zaruba through his appearances in the anime, his sacrifice here ended up at least hitting for you.

I know it hit me pretty hard when I first watched it, because Zaruba is such a constant throughout the franchise that even though it's a different iteration... it still hurts.

But yeah, when I was talking last time about last episode being a big breather episode? It's because they decided to go full hog and immediately go for an action packed episode.

As for what Zaruba did... I'll be real when I say the logistics of what happened are weird and not exactly explained well enough. I can sort of guess what they were going for, and I assume that what Sword did was a way to utilize what was left of Zaruba as like a failsafe sort of thing.

Definitely makes me wonder just how well Sword is gonna hold up as Garo going forward. Like, did absorbing Zaruba result in a permanent fixture of the Armor, did is it only a matter of time before Sword hits complications? Guess I'll find out soon enough.

Gotta say, the twist about Sophie's' brother was really obvious.

What I wasn't expecting, however, was for Sophie's' phone to be literally magic. I always thought those virtual sequences were all in her head.

Anyway, the crew at long last touch down in El Dorado. Unfortunately, that last attack spend almost all of the group's' resources, so Gina retreats to go and grab some supplies. So it's up to Luke, Sword, and Sophie to investigate the town.

Although this is primarily meant to be a Sophie-focused episode, my biggest takeaway of it all actually came from Sword and Luke. There's a scene where Sophie wonders why Sword isn't mourning Zaruba, and Luke explains to her the inherent difference in how Makai handle death.

The Knights and Alchemists are always prepared to fulfill their duties to the end, and as such, continuing to fight on and living life to the fullest is seen as the best way to honor their fallen comrades. It's the sort of message that I actually really personally relate to, as it's very similar to the way I was taught to handle the deaths of loved ones.

That aside, this episode does offer a big leap forward in the plot. Not only cluing in to how Sophie's' brother Martin factors into all of this, but what exactly the endgame plan of El Dorado exactly is. They want to, you guessed it, take over the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W7c8QghPxk

And they mean in all ways too. Business, politics, you name it. It's a slight step up from simply wanting to eat everyone ala the plots of the previous two anime.

After so much time with Luke going solo and Sword and Gina being a pair, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Luke and Sword play off eachother again.

Yeah, I know you were worried about them getting to El Dorado later rather than sooner a couple episodes back, but thankfully (given they set out this goal at Episode 9 of all places) we got to El Dorado with a good several episodes to spare too.

We've pretty much entered endgame at this point so things are about to ramp up pretty quickly.

That being said, even though it did only appear for a few seconds this episode, I didn't really want to say anything last time for spoilers sake but hey! Congratulations Sword on being like one of the few Garo's to actually get a permanent upgrade to the armor, even if it's a bit minor in terms of details. It happens a couple of times but not as often as you'd think.

I mean, depending on how you view "upgrade" it's happened in every anime at least. Like, with Leon it's debatable, sure, but Raikou's' for sure counts.

But yeah, I am glad at how smooth and well times the transition into El Dorado was. I've seen some other shows where like, once Gina was like "I gotta go back to get supplies" the entire plot would've been like "WELL I GUESS WE CAN'T GO TO EL DORADO YET EVEN THOUGH IT'S RIGHT HERE~"

So yeah, glad we're at the endgame now.

Yeah like I said, Sword joins the few since it's not as common as you'd think in this franchise. Though yeah, Raikou's definitely counts.

And I wouldn't count Leon's purely because his first iteration is very much a variant based on his emotions. Meanwhile he ends up getting one more in line with how Garo normally looks after everything's in check. With Alfonso being the real first case of "See this is how Garo is supposed to look".

Martin's kinda dumb.

He's essentially the type of media parent who abandons their kid and then tries to justify it with work or some dumb garbage.

Not only that, he for some reason has this idea in his head that Sophie is an absolute lost cause unless he helps create a virtual reality for her? For a genius level programmer he sure doesn't understand why smiles are important.

Because that's what El Dorado's' end goal is: A virtual reality to trap people in under the false pretense of eternal happiness, and this episode is a raid on the main enemy base in order to set up for the next episode which will in turn elaborate and expand on that idea.

Out of that and the reveal that El Dorado is also responsible for the death of Sword's' sister, this episode was just what I said: A raid. And a somewhat lower budget one too given that the action is kinda minimal and there's some weird animation here and there(mainly in the way mouths move this episode). Like, it's not bad, but it's very much a stepping stone episode.

It's important sure, but the show is gonna have to do alot if it wants me to care about Martin after his being a neglectful family member. Like, sure, he thought he was writing to Sophie while he was gone, but that doesn't change that he just up and left without a word one day.

Needless to say, I'm far more interested in the promised interaction between Sword and the virtual version of his sister.

This didn't quite go the way I expected, which is a good thing, but I'm still a bit unsatisfied.

Like, I get what the episode was going for, especially with all the blatant dream symbolism, but this felt overall undercooked to me.

Part of that might be due to the studio knowing that they only have a few episodes left an as such they need to hasten things a little, but unfortunately the writing isn't tight enough to make everything feel as developed as it could be.

Case in point, Sword and his sister, after such a big deal was made about her, really don't get to interact all that much. Sure, Sword does keep his wits about him and assumes that she's a fraud, but it overall feels like little payoff to so much build up throughout the show.

Instead most of the focus is on Martin and Sophie, which while that is somewhat expected, I also found it alot less interesting. Martin continues being a terrible brother/parent in that he's focused only on his wants and needs and using his sister as an excuse to those ends. I get that he's possessed and delusional, but this was all even before Horrors got involved.

Meanwhile with Sophie, I really don't get her internal logic in this one? She has the sense to know that El Dorado is a sham and that it's a feeding ground for Horrors ala The Matrix, and she even instantly pieces together that the ring Martin wears is the problem, but yet come the end of the episode she just goes for the kill option? It seemed way more likely for her to just try grabbing at the ring again while Martin was unconscious.

Well atleast we finally know Half-Naked Makai Lady's' name, which is Queen. Makes sense, given the Chess theme inherent in Knight and Bishop. Also, the quick gaga about Luke trying to carry an unconscious Sword gave me a chuckle.

Safe to say though that while I don't hate her, I think that Sophie is the character I like the least of the main four. What a shame, given that she's arguably the main character at this point.

My main takeaway of this episode is that Queen went down without much of a fight.

The majority of this episode is designed to try and make the viewer feel sorry for Martin due to the way he was manipulated.

And in that regard, the show tries to have its cake and eat it too, by making the claim that Martin had become a Horror and was a lost cause the moment he put on the ring, despite so much evidence to the contrary.

There's also the claim that he remained altruistic despite his possession, which is just outright not true in that his actions are incredibly selfish. The show really can't decide on if the ring is the main problem or not. "Martin is an utter monster except not really" could be cool in concept, but the execution is sloppy.

If anything, all this did was make me dislike Sophie even more. I expressed confusion at her inner motives last episode, and this episode clarifies them in probably the worst way? She still knows that the ring is the Horror and Martin isn't, but she just wants to appear more valiant and braver than she actually is, meaning she has the guts to kill Martin the human, but not the Horror.

Sophie is a coward despite all of the allegedly growth throughout the show. The moment Martin even so much as shows any resistance, what does she do? She backs out, terrified. Killing an "innocent" man is easy to her, and something she'll gladly say she'll take responsibility for, but when it comes down to the wire, she is nothing like the Nun who took care of her. She backs out immediately and never acknowledges that her actions directly lead to Martin being turned.

And this all could've been so easily fixed had there just been one scene where, after the two escape El Dorado, Sophie tries to wrestle the ring from Martin but the ring itself actively resists. Instead it's alot of claims about the two siblings having pure souls. Which, sure, in comparison to Horrors, they probably do, but both are still far from the purely altruistic do-gooders that the show tries to claim they are. And you're telling me that Zaruba sacrificed himself for this girl? Yeah, no, I ain't happy about that.

Needless to say I really as not into this one. That prophecy about Sophie's' actions "shaping the fate of the world" is technically true, but in probably the most lackluster way for a show like this.

I had to check if I could get the trivia out of the way concerning something but nope! That'll wait for next time!

Anyway sorry if I didn't have much to say these past several episodes other than uh, Martin's a dumbass.

Purely cause I'll be real when I was legitimately shocked that El Dorado's plot kicked in at Episode 18 given the whole endgame kinda blurs together for me that I thought it was only like 3 episodes. Not 6 episodes.

Yeah, he really is. This is an instance where things would've been way smoother had Martin just become a Horror outright and that's why he disappeared rather than this "complexity" that the narrative is shooting for.

Well, that certainly robs episode 17 and 18 of their biggest moments.

And on that note, I was really emotionally checked out during a good majority of this episode.

It's alot more Sophie and Martin drama that I am very much sick of hearing about and watching at this point. Combine that with the dreaded "King planned this all along!" cliche that I find very rarely ever works and my eyes rolled really hard.

Zaruba coming back despite being absorbed by Sword and King somehow planning everything aren't the only asspulls done though. There's also Queen being alive despite being blown in half and Gina and Sword now being a couple despite only one hint that Gina was even remotely interested in the guy.

And that's all there is to this one, really. Though it does end on the promise of a battle of Gina and Luke vs Queen and Knight, which I am definitely down for. I might not be jiving with Vanishing Line's' endgame all that much, but if this fight delivers, then really that's all I'll need at this point. Luke's' entire arc has been leading up to this, so I really hope things don't fumble here.

Oh, and if you care at all about the plot: Martin got eaten, everyone tells Sophie she had nothing to do with it despite the fact that she did, and everyone retreats and regroups for one final attack on King's' forces. The end.