[Fish Sandwich]

Hiroki Uchida is a real nice writer to have around. I thought this episode pretty flawlessly recalibrated all the various bits of the series to where they're going to be for the final stretch. A very solid interlude between the end of one big arc for the show, and the final stretch.

One of Uchida's most specific strengths is that he probably writes the best Master Logos? The dialogue for him always seems so much more colorful in his episodes, and his vapid motivations end up being leveraged in jjjjust the right way, to boot. I'd sort of given up on Crazy Shinken Gold ever feeling like he truly belongs in this show, but continuing on from last episode, the script manages to make that into a strength, and Solomon is in a much better place as an antagonist by the end of this one. His conversation with Touma highlights an honest-to-goodness thematic contrast between him and the protagonists, which was a bit shocking. But yeah, I'll admit it; in this show full of protagonists bound by honor and oath, a dude actively trying to burn his legacy to the ground is maybe a reasonable candidate for main villain status!

The episode frames it that way super convincingly in my opinion, and again, the specific lines of dialogue are so, so great. I especially enjoyed his extremely unflattering opinion on Luna. Again, what's making Solomon work for me right now is how genuinely opposite he feels to Touma, so to take all that rejection of fate stuff and just have him outright say "please thank me for saving you from that girl who sentenced you to death 15 years ago" is... like it's honestly pretty brilliant?

Another reason I'm feeling way more generous towards Solomon is because this episode very explicitly demotes him to co-main bad guy alongside Storious, which is pretty much what I was hoping for. The long stretches where Storious politely stands around silently as Master Logos goes on insane rants really highlights how much he's simply allowing himself to be in the background at the moment, and then we see the switch, right at the end, where Master Logos has suffered another defeat, so humiliated he's finally run out of snappy responses, and Storious takes him from that CG room in Southern Base we've seen so much of... to the Megid's CG hideout. Master Logos is now a guest in Storious' house. Beautiful way to communicate that visually.

And then on top of all that, the episode of course checks in with nearly everybody else, because that just how Saber rolls, and when it's working this well, I'm inclined not to complain. (Speaking of which, love the changes in the opening. Everyone walking along together is so cute.)

I'd desperately like for either Reika to do something especially cool, or for Ryouga to do something especially important, but even as it is, I can't say I actually hate the way the show is softening the both of them up right now? It sort of reminds me of how Build gave Gentoku a much goofier side once he needed to fit into the protagonists' dynamic, and as long as Sabela and Durandal still get to have awesome fight scenes, I can't be too disappointed.

The episode chose what is maybe the ideal way to show Kento firmly back to normal with another scene on that rooftop, which was delightful. A lot of the fun of this show is in that sense of warmth between the heroes, and I think it's pretty safe to say that Kento has *really* earned a return to that after everything he's been through lately. It's similarly pretty touching that his first priority (after finally changing out of that potato sack jacket at least) is to go talk to Ren, and that, too, was a pretty slick way to check in on that character. It's a little less redundant than another scene with Touma or just Desast would've been, and the fact that it's Kento means we get to see Ren trying to be polite, which helps get across how he's now at a point where he's more genuinely pondering his path than simply deluding himself into thinking he doesn't need anyone.

Outside of that, Daishinji is adorable as always, despite the minor roles Ogami, Yuri, and him all get. We also get a classic Saber/Blades team-up here, which you can never go wrong with, especially when it involves an actual monster to fight for the first time in a bit, and another budget-destroying action set piece for Xross Saber. I won't lie, I'm sad to not see Rekka in that Driver by default, but I do like the idea that it's almost this entirely new era for Saber, with a whole new set of forms and a sweet insert song and everything. I mean, it's really hard for me to be upset about Xross Saber! Even asking "where's the base form!?" with it is just like... I'm literally staring at it! This show, man!