[Fish Sandwich]

I'm definitely still a little worried about Solomon's role in the show. It's maybe a testament to my blindingly strong love of Saber that I don't already hate the guy, because as I mentioned, these sorts of Gold Drive types, when they aren't Gold Drive himself anyway, tend to rub me the wrong way. The repetition from series to series is a lot of what bothers me, to be fair. There's this paradox going on where the debut of an unpredictable new main villain Rider in the 30's is now ironically predictable, and I think they really need to step away from this pattern for at least two shows in a row before it can be fresh again. And you know, obviously that's not all Saber's fault.

But I guess what I was hoping for with Master Logos that it's evident the show is consciously avoiding at this point is having him fit in with how the other Kamen Riders in this show are written. A massive part of why I fell in love with Calibur right away was the idea that this was a guy who explicitly used to be a hero, and as we found out more and more about his motivations, that fact became more and more significant. The most dramatically engaging conflicts in this show have always come from the clashes between heroes and other heroes. I have no doubt this is part of why Saber is considered to have "gotten good" during the second arc. Even a character like Reika, who was an overtly antagonist force, was also someone convinced she was acting for the good of the world.

It's why the Megid trio being used so sparingly has never been a huge bother for me? There being monsters running amok to generate plots is useful, but when there's something more interesting to focus on, Saber has never hesitated to shut them out of the spotlight for a bit, because they are very much the guys who are there to be evil and nothing else. I think all three of those guys are fun and charismatic enough, despite being so simple, but I'm also glad they never overstay their welcome.

What I'm getting at here is that I'm also less worried about Solomon, having realized that despite technically being a Rider, Master Logos is very much another one of the monsters in terms of characterization and narrative function. With Storious being entirely uninvolved in current events, it seems evident that this is merely Master Logos' turn in the spotlight – a peak for a character who admirably drove the development of the real stars over the past couple dozen episodes, and who will politely leave after bringing that role to a conclusion. Touma set out to find the true enemy who broke the bonds of trust between the swordsmen, and after a bumpy road there, he's poised to reunite the entire gang and then some, all in the name of finally defeating that dread foe behind the whole mess.

Like, it's a pretty logical conclusion for this huge arc, and if Solomon is only around for three episodes of the whole run, then my usual complaint about these evil Riders hijacking the entire story would kinda fly out the window, wouldn't it? I can hope, anyway.

At any rate, just like he was before taking up a sword, Master Logos is still making room for some nice drama with the protagonists, which means I can finally say all these paragraphs in that I still really really liked the episode! (Hard to believe how short these posts used to be back in September...) See, I know Solomon being so shallow is entirely deliberate because this is the kind of show where Touma going off to advance Kento's arc is interrupted by Ren showing up to demand Touma advance his arc first. Piling on plot threads like this is just classic Saber, and you'd better believe I'm all over that.

First of all, that Saber/Kenzan fight is great. Touma finally checks that last box on the list of friends to fight with, and I adored how he actively calls back to how many times he's done this before. It's kind of perfect to have this be the last of these matchups. Touma is maybe the character with the most growth in the show, thanks to all the different voices he's listened to, and then Ren is... literally the exact opposite of all that. It's a good scene for the both of them thanks to that contrast, and I'm honestly starting to see the appeal of Ren as a character now, which is praise for Saber I honestly wasn't sure I'd ever be able to give it.

It's also good because the seemingly random Ren roadblock for Touma serves as a way to also give Rintarou and Kento some one-on-one time, and I'm as glad they got that as Kento is. It's not super complicated or anything, but it balances out the focus to remind you that Rintarou is not a third wheel in this friendship, once again calling back to that promise they made, which I was happy to see. And while Kento doesn't elaborate on what he means when he says Rintarou has changed, you can see his growth too in that he's now talking strictly in terms of protecting the people who matter to him, rather than going on about duty and the like the way he was back when Kento was running off on his own in the first quarter. Like, I know it's easy to take for granted, but a lot of these guys have really matured over the last half a year!

So yeah, it's still cool seeing Kento take those baby steps to get there himself, it's great watching this trio taking on the big bad guy together, it's great seeing Touma making heroic declarations, it's great seeing seeing Yuri being Saikou as always, and this last one is jumping back a bit, but you know what? It's even great seeing them pull off a comic relief scene somehow involving Bacht. Love this show.