[Zolda]

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I guess a Level 10 Chemy can be temporarily captured using a stealthy approach, as Clotho did from offscreen, but will always flee when alerted. Seems like Atropos only needed a little Level 10 essence to complete the DreaDriver anyway. Sabi mentioned that Houtarou might be capable of capturing one effectively, as he respects UFO-X's sense of individuality rather than only seeing him as an errant tool. If Houtarou succeeds, this might be enough to make Kugimiya see the error of his ways.

This makes sense. Seems like Dread will finally meet his match when Houtarou gets his Super Gotchard forms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I think the "it" Atropos wants to destroy is referring to the natural order, represented by the Ouroboros. Alchemy is the science of transmuting one thing to a different thing, but this is limited by the natural order, hence why the failures of alchemy are more common than the successes, why there are still blanks in the periodic table and why some elements combust no sooner than they're synthesized. Seems like there are things that only dark alchemy can manifest, things that break the order, but also things that would be potentially beneficial to Rinne, such as turning death to life.

Therefore, I wouldn't be so quick to peg Atropos as another nihilist, despite her resemblance to Storious. She seems to have some kind of twisted ideal for the future, albeit one with severe consequences for humanity. Similar to how Alain was scared of his mortality, since he had lived a long time with an immortal Ganma body to survive under the harsh red sky of Ganma World, so he had to learn how to be okay with being human and weak.

I agree. The "it" didn't necessarily refer to a sentient, omniscient, omnipotent creator, but rather to the laws of nature that govern the world. The Ouroboros itself is still mysterious af. I'm not sure whether it's a parallel world that is the manifestation of natural order or natural disorder, or whether it should be maintained or destroyed. It could be either way. It seems like the philosophical core of the story is not the destruction of "it", but rather the consequence of changing or destroying "it". "It" can be changed into anything, with their own possibilities and consequences. The most important question to ask is: Are you ready to accept the consequences of the choices you've made? I think it fits nicely with Houtarou's backstory as a high school senior who has no idea of what he's gonna do after graduation.

On second thought, I may be wrong. That particular conversation seemed like it was deliberately written as ambiguous, so I could be misreading the context there. The context was probably simpler than I thought it was. That conversation could actually refer not to Atropos and her philosophy, but to a change that had happened to Rinne since she knew Houtarou and the others, and Atropos was merely curious about what the cause was. I focused too much on Atropos' long-term scheme that I lost sight of the simpler, more obvious possibility and forgot to apply Occam's razor. Haha.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Proof that humanity has Infinite Potential!

This guy says hi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

If Sabi isn't in control, then maybe Dread's pilot is actually the new Chemy, Darkliner, presumably using his own Ride Chemy Card to access this form, considering the title of next episode.

Darkliner? A new Chemy outside of the 101 ones? Well, here I am, being proven wrong again. Haha. It'd be nice if Dread actually uses Yamata no Orochi, because I can't un-see the hydra motif from his helmet, haha.

Darkliner could be the evil version of Steam Liner when it's exposed to and corrupted by Dread's power. Or, it could be one member of the whole new (!) group of Chemies created by The Sisters' death club. Although it's been said that there are 101 Chemies, there could be other factions/splinter groups that are still creating new Chemies. It's only a problem of law enforcement within the alchemy society. It doesn't violate the internal logic of the story so far.

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Originally Posted by Mesnick

Also, is Sabimaru a UFO-X fan? If it weren't for the memory erasure rule, he might have become friends with Kajiki. By the way, in the topic of the last episode, many were worried about his relationship with Hijiri. At the very least, this episode shows that the show is definitely not going to forget about her.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Yep, his favorite Chemy.

Kajiki, Hijiri, and Sabimaru should be given a happy ending where they enjoy UFO-ria together.

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Originally Posted by Mesnick

The twist that Malgam turns out to be the benevolent Harima is predictable. Honestly, this story should have been made into a two-parter because the plot is rushed again. However, she is effective in a villainous role and her ability can be very annoying for Gotchard. It also turns out that all the conscious villains in the show so far presented are women.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

The good cop in a good cop/bad cop routine secretly being evil cop does feel like a cliche here, so at least they didn't drag it out. Based on her creepy arm, Harima looks like she's also a practitioner of dark alchemy, thus no longer human.

I also prefer the spy trope to conclude in this episode and not dragged out, since it's been hinted since 3 or 4 episodes ago.

I think perhaps it's Shiori who will conveniently use her dimension-bending ability to unexpectedly put the new Driver on the desperate Sabimaru and turn him into the Driver's puppet. She can easily steal stuffs from inside a secure, closed storage, so this kind of feat is easy to her. Her left hand is rotting probably due to the overuse of her dimensional-bending alchemy power. In real life, it looks like what happens to a human's limb when exposed to constant heavy pressures. Characters, especially toku ones, who wear gloves on only one hand or never remove the gloves are usually suspicious, haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Since we know Houtarou as a person, whereas Kugimiya only knows Gotchard and judges him based on skill alone without trying to get to know him better. Unlike Spanner, Kugimiya doesn't even bother to explain his reason properly, only telling Houtarou that he sucks at being Gotchard rather than suggesting advice for improvement or even an alternative user to replace him. Totally justified why the other alchemists and even Isaac angrily call him out for his snobby behavior and misplaced priorities.

Licht could be this season's Oren Pierre Alfonso, an antihero/starter villain that become a mentor in later episodes.

And is Isaac actually sentient? Isn't he just an AI-assisted speech synthesis program that creates an artistic interpretation of Sabimaru's words? It seems like Isaac is not a harmless program as I previously thought.