[Zolda]

Kyoka says @ 01:14 that Gigist did some kind of transmutation trick to Skebows. She says that Gigist's direct Malgamization performed on a Chemy caused it to go berserk, and defeating the Malgam will destroy the Chemy itself.

Like I hypothesized last week here, in this episode Hopper1 is going on a journey to find the golden flower, although I was half wrong about its importance. I thought that the golden flower would play a crucial role in the story, but it turns out it's not important at all. Hopper1 doesn't even go far in his solo journey, let alone actually find it. He only goes to a local market to find yellow flowers, and the one he eventually finds is located in the vicinity of this episode's crime scene at which he appears out of nowhere @ 13:25.

The very very very late crucial revelation in this episode happens @ 07:04 when it's shown that Houtarou's dad had already been absent (missing? dead?) since 10 years ago, not recently. I thought his dad's disappearance happened only 2 or 3 years ago. But, as shown in that scene, he's been missing since 10 years ago. Maaaannn... His circumstance is getting weirder and weirder with each new episode. If he'd been absent 10 years ago, then how did Kid Houtarou end up in the Ouroboros world in episode 18? How could Kid Houtarou be very familiar with alchemy and Chemies, especially Hopper1 and Steamliner? I don't think Kid Houtarou could randomly be stranded in the Ouroboros world (where Fuga was researching Gotchardriver) without his dad's involvement. Or did Kid Houtarou's scene in episode 18 happen before his dad disappearance? I rewatched episode 18 to find new hints whether Fuga had already acquainted with Kid Houtarou (and thus his dad), but it didn't seem like Fuga had known Kid Houtarou that well.

So, what's the connection between Houtarou's dad, his disappearance, and the story? The more the story unfolds, his dad's involvement in the story is getting more and more unclear. My initial hypothesis several aeons ago in episode 4 (!) thread here was that Houtarou's dad was another prominent alchemist (the Alchemist of Dawn?) who was also involved in the Gotchardriver research with Fuga, but I think that it may not be the case. So far, the story has hinted that Fuga did the Gotchardriver research alone without any partners. Perhaps Kid Houtarou being in the Ouroboros world 10 years ago was meant as a hint about his dad's involvement in the Gotchardriver research? Another important point is, has his mom actually known about the truth behind his dad's disappearance? I mean, what kind of mom keep telling his kid that his dad has been constantly travelling the world for 10 years without ever coming home, essentially abandoning his family? Why doesn't Houtarou have even a tiny amount of curiosity to find out about the truth on his own? If I were Houtarou, I would've been suspicious since the second year of my dad's disappearance. On the fifth year, I would've confronted my mom about the truth. I'm sorry, but I think I'm smelling a very convenient idiot plot here.

Gigist says @ 10:36 that he only needs the Chemy sleeping inside Houtarou's body, i.e. the Nijigon egg. If Nijigon (which is a part of Gigist's body/powers) is a Chemy, then doesn't it mean that Gigist is also a Chemy? So, Gigist is a Chemy that created all Chemies? Well, it seems like I was wrong about being wrong in episode 36 thread, haha. He then says that Houtarou's Gotchardriver has been forged using Nijigon as material. Houtarou's Gotchardriver's power to freely change his forms comes from the Nijigon egg. The repeated transformations using the Gotchardriver have caused Nijigon to gradually fuse with Houtarou and resulted in Gigist being unable to separate them in episode 36. Gigist plan in this episode is to reclaim the Nijigon egg by turning Houtarou into a Malgam.

Clotho doubts that turning Houtarou into a Malgam will be that easy, but she's silenced by Atropos. Atropos asks whether it's possible to revive Glion if Gigist is able to reclaim the Nijigon egg, which is replied with a dismissal from Gigist who says that Atropos feeling as a homunculus doll who long for a parental figure is a mere insignificant, sham existence. Atropos doesn't seem to like Gigist reply to her request, so maybe she will ultimately betray him?

Gigist conveniently appears out of nowhere @ 15:27 and performs Malgamization on Hopper1/Crosshopper, who also conveniently appears out of nowhere 2 minutes earlier to give a yellow flower to Houtarou. A random kid who left his toy earlier at the crime scene then also conveniently (re)appears out of nowhere in the midst of a battle to turn himself (and his mom) into willing hostages, haha. This scene is comically identical to the one in episode 33 where a kid conveniently appears out of nowhere to put herself as the target of Saigetsu/KR (ripoff) Dark Kiva's Rider kick. I can imagine my 5 year-old self rolling his eyes all the way to the back he can see his brain, haha. KR writers should stop using this dumb trope because kids can see how dumb those scenes are. I get that the intention of the writers is to create a sense of danger that will trigger the desperation inside Houtarou's mind, but why should it be created via unnecessary, irrational, dumb scenes like these? Why not simply make Hopper1 Malgam attack Rinne and the others, especially Spanner who was just utterly defeated several moments ago? My 5 year-old self was dumb, but not that dumb. Beyond Gigist's expectation, Houtarou then transforms not into a Malgam, but a giant egg, and then vanishes and teleports to Toei's warehouse/studio complex, haha.

Inside the giant egg, Houtarou hears a voice, which is very likely Nijigon's. As I hypothesized in episode 31 thread here, Nijigon could be Houtarou's dad (aka the Alchemist of Dawn) who took a portion of Gigist's raw power when he defeated him 120 years ago, and then later fused himself with it and transformed himself into the Nijigon egg, which was then planted into Kid Houtarou's body by Fuga. Houtarou's dad has been absent for 10 years because he's inside Houtarou's body all along. The point where he went missing (e.g. moving into Kid Houtarou's body) was probably around the scene 10 years ago in episode 18, right before Glion found out about the Gotchardriver development by Fuga in the Ouroboros world. Nijigon wears a pair of goggles because he is Houtarou's dad. Another important hint in episode 18 was when Kid Houtarou created his own goggles through alchemy (without the use of the Ring), which was then he gave to Houtarou. It might be a hint about his dad being there doing Gotchardriver research with Fuga, and might also be a hint about the existence of the Nijigon egg inside his body. The reason why Kid Houtarou (who was already very familiar with alchemy and Chemies, especially Hopper1 and Steamliner) was in the Ouroboros world in episode 18 was because he was required as the final piece of the puzzle. Kid Houtarou was the final resting place of his dad (which had transformed himself into the Nijigon egg several moments earlier), where the alchemical operation procedure was very likely performed by Fuga as the alchemy doctor. His dad (aka the Alchemist of Dawn) and Fuga had a grand plan with the aim of using a portion of Gigist's destructive alchemical powers and transformed it (via the synergy vetween Nijigon, the Gotchardriver, and the RCC's) into a power of creation and miracle that could change the world for the better.

Next week:

Yyyyyep, like I hypothesized in episode 33 thread here, the debut of KR Rainbow Gotchard is exactly in episode 38. Every Reiwa season has debuted the final form in episode 38 for 4 years, except KR Zero-Two that debuted in episode 40 due to COVID. If this pattern continues (which I'm afraid it does), then I think Kamen Rider's stories will become very predictable. Well, what can I say? This is the power of quarterly reports, haha.