[DreamSword]

Episode X: Fallen Blood

This episode went places, man.

First off, props to the title of the episode itself for actually having multiple meanings in terms of the plot itself. I love when titles manage to do that.



Second, we actually get some backstory on Mendosa and Octavia. Their ambitions, the reasons they became the people they are, how Mendosa's' Forbidden Artifact came to be, and how Mendosa's' hatred blinded him to even those who valued him as a friend and ally. It took up like a third of the episode and I didn't mind at all.

Speaking of which, I'm actually kinda surprised we're at this point in the story already. In most other stories of this ilk, this would be Final Battle territory. Does GARO technically have two seasons despite being listed as one whole?



Third is what I think shined the most about this episode; The character interactions. Everyone is together now and how they play off of eachother is totally on point. From Alfonso and Leon bonding over their sacred duties, to the excellent comedy resulting from Alfonso trying to get used to the typical antics of German and Emma, everything in terms of character was on point here. They even made the Naked German joke way funnier than the entire episode centered around it!

Still, it is a shame that Emma won't be around for the raid on the castle, but I suppose that was a way to hint at the audience that this technically isn't the endgame back when the anime was airing. Speaking of Emma though, her attraction to German kinda came out of nowhere, but whatever.

There's no real action to be spoken of in this episode, but that's a-okay, because this episode ends with a pretty big promise to fill the action quota during the next ep, with probably the best "next time" hook they've done yet:



Seriously, having Bernardo suit up just as the episode ends? Fantastic way to get me craving for the next episode!