[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER BUILD EPISODES 13 - 14



OH MY GOD WHO WOULD HAVE PREDICTED okay, yes, I sort-of figured Hipster Dad was actually Blood Stalk a few episodes earlier. Some of it was because of Hipster Dad's frequent disappearances. They didn't directly coincide with Stalk's appearances, but it was usually a scene or two later. Mostly, though, it's the scientific principle of Conservation Of Cast. The producers could have hired a completely different actor to be the un-henshined Blood Stalk, but you've got this supporting dude who does not that much, sooooo... Yeah, it was going to be Hipster Dad. (Takumi was always a total red herring. There's no way that dude was an affable badass like Stalk.) With that certainty, the reveal of Stalk's identity wasn't so much what I was looking for. The "who" wasn't a big deal, the "why" was.

And the "why" is SO GOOD.

Kamen Rider Wizard was not a very good show. (I swear, I'm going somewhere with this.) It's overly repetitive, the characters lack charisma, and it's overly repetitive. The one thing it did insanely well is the reveal of the mastermind's plot. The idea that Wiseman was the White Wizard and had the villains attacking people specifically so Wizard could save them, thereby potentially creating the tools Wiseman needed to cause the next Sabbath, it is fiendishly clever. It's not enough to save the season, but it's a great villain scheme. It makes the various villain sacrifices make sense, because they never really mattered. It explains all the times the Big Bad had the heroes on the ropes and let them go, because the Big Bad was also the mentor. All of the help the heroes got was just a way for the Big Bad to eventually win.

Stalk's scheme activates the same excitement in my brain. The idea that Kamen Rider Build is only a means to end, that everything Sento's done is basically irrelevant, that Misora is the only one who matters, that is fantastic. That is a crushing emotional hit to the Riders, to know that they were not only betrayed, but everything they've fought for is pointless. That all they've been doing is getting the villain closer to his goal. It's monstrous and terrifying.

It is also so, so thematically appropriate. Stalk has created something in Team Build that he's used for evil. But Team Build itself isn't evil. Team Build can, and is, used for good. The invention doesn't matter, the intention matters. People decide if science is used for good or evil. Now that Sento and Banjou and Sawa and Misora have control of Team Build, they can use it for whatever they want. They can stop Stalk and save the world. It's an uphill battle, for sure. But they've got a lot of people rooting for them. Even, uh, Blood Stalk?