[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 45 - ?2019 - ETERNAL PARTY?

The big one is, naturally, the one between Sougo and Geiz. It?s their incompatible worldviews, which become more relevant the closer we get to a finale. Geiz doesn?t believe people can change, because he?s seen real horrors. When someone shows you who they really are, you don?t need to risk your safety to ask follow-up questions. You protect innocents, and you destroy monsters. Sougo?s someone he can get behind because Oma Zi-O doesn?t exist yet; it?s a paradox that allows Geiz to have his friendship while still feeling like a dedicated soldier.

Personally yeah, for me Geiz's hilarious pessimism would turn him self-righteous, to see everything in black-and-white and that he'd boil down between others always doing something right in front of his eyes, or someone that must be destroyed if caught doing something wrong or even be implied to do so. While Geiz is no longer like that to Sougo or some Another Riders, he reverted into that mentality when dealing with Time Jackers. Well though he had good reasons of doing so with the previous deeds the Time Jackers did, like what Sougo summed up here (and Geiz can potentially, perform self-fulfilling prophecy again by making Heure actually evil again due to rejection and mistreatment from him, he's quite like this too when dealing with Another Wizard back then), Geiz really contradicted himself with his approach here, that he doesn't believe in change for people, at least quickly (not changing quickly =/= can't change at all), but he stayed to make sure Sougo doesn't become Ohma Zi-O, growing out of his murderous ways, which'd mean he does believe in change, for Sougo at least.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Since we?re in the middle part of a three-parter (at a minimum!), this plot is left nicely open-ended. While Tsukuyomi is still openly conflicted about the Time Orphans? value to Sougo?s development and/or defeating Swartz, Geiz?z feelings are left a bit more ambiguous. To me, he reads as embarrassed by his lack of emotional growth, and how he?s let Sougo down. He?s not built for protecting people, or seeing the good in people. He?s a grim executioner from the future, and he feels like that?s where he should?ve stayed.

Speaking of Tsukuyomi, wonder what's her view regarding Time Jackers now compared to Sougo, at least Heure, with her too protecting him last episode. Otherwise, though Miharu talked about the consequence of time travelling, Tsukuyomi seems to 'defy' that a bit by asking for more time to further try and believe. Actually I don't know if trying to change the past, the act alone, is something wrong or not, and also compared to letting tragedies happen and not trying to do anything. Like, for the Time Jackers, I'd consider them wrong by fucking up lives of some people via Another Rider instead of them merely going to the past. For Geiz, personally I don't think that it's necessary to see the good in people to perform morally good deeds (extension to protecting people), like you can acknowledge about how someone is evil or have potential to be evil without sugarcoating or downplaying it, but possess moral compass to acknowledge their rights, such as not killing someone who had not done evil yet like a child/younger version of a future criminal or such.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Especially when it gets you murdered! Yeah, Heure dies in this one, probably. (Deaths are ambiguous on most Kamen Rider shows, doubly so for a time-travel show with multiple timelines.) Even though I didn?t guess that Another Drive was the Paradox Roidmude (another movie villain!!!), I still correctly surmised that Ora would gladly turn on Heure if it ensured her survival. I imagine most folks won?t care too much, since the Time Jackers rarely felt like three-dimensional characters, but I thought the last couple episodes did a lot to make Heure feel like a character who deserved the chance that Sougo was offering. Seeing him get cut down by what he thought was a friend, all because she couldn?t see a way where they could be more than the villains they were? like, that?s a nicely poignant death scene.

Didn't you say Ora's also possibly get integrated in Team Zi-O to some positive effect? Otherwise, while Heure got tragically murdered and seem to be actually redeemed, albeit too late, I lowkey actually want for Ora to emphasize her betrayal by also, walking away by literally stepping on his dying body as if he doesn't exist. Not to make Heure suffer like Geiz wants but continuing after several physical jabs from Ora before. I guess the real lesson for this is that, neither Sougo's empathetic approach or Geiz's merciless approach are the absolutes, but actually individuals can be just different, and that people should be evaulated individually rather than using their group/occupation as a whole. In how Heure's the one who's actually redeemed, but Ora's the one who's still a backstabbing manipulative scumbag as ever who also had no gratefulness in 9-5 before (u̶g̶h̶,̶ ̶h̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶g̶n̶o̶r̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶E̶n̶g̶l̶i̶s̶h̶ ̶l̶a̶n̶g̶u̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶d̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶i̶e̶c̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶"̶h̶e̶r̶o̶i̶n̶e̶"̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶m̶a̶j̶o̶r̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶r̶a̶c̶t̶e̶r̶). Both individuals are different despite both being Time Jackers.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I liked a lot of pieces of this episode? It?s darker, which feels appropriate for an episode full of Dark Riders. Eternal?s back, and that?s always fun. (He?s also responsible for Surprise Drive, helping to tie together the Drive elements.) I always liked Aqua?s fluid fighting style. I?m a sucker for Tsukasa just going The Rules Never Apply To Me, and then jumping ahead in the story to solve the mystery. It?s a good middle episode of a three-parter.

About characters succumbing to the gravity of their pasts or not, it's pulled here for Eternal and Aqua too, of which Aqua claiming Eternal will lose because he's just a ghost of a past. But Eternal makes another point about how, every future will inherently turn into a past. Probably this shows that what decides the future is still what happened in the past. About Dark Riders being brought here, actually Owada had more 'innocent' outcome in the alternate world by winning the Tekken tournament instead of losing... but Eternal appearing would mean that, as Tsukasa explained, Swartz created a world where the bad guy wins, instead of W beating Eternal, so there's a horrific stuff there regarding how Eternal can appear here regarding how Eternal actually won in that world. Other than that, even though Aqua had fluid fighting style, there's a big irony about how a Rider named Aqua loses a battle.... in underwater!

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Heure was always the least malicious of the Time Jackers, he's done some typical bad things but nothing as depraved as Ora and Swartz have committed. He's also done some good things (for antihero reasons), like saving Another Ghost's host from his original death and helping Woz outsmart White Woz. He also has the most loyalty to his fellow Time Jackers, being the only one to not use them and he didn't hesitate to help Ora escape after Swartz betrayed them. So I like how easily Sougo can befriend him, since Sougo can see both the good and bad in people and he probably sees that Heure is someone who became this way due to his past of being orphaned and that loneliness is something he can relate to due to being ostracized for his dream of becoming king.

True, only Heure had a sliver of conscience compared to the other 2. But about Another Ghost's host, it wasn't Heure doing good thing, it's him being manipulative too to put the heroes in a tough spot, as they know they can't let Another Ghost run off and steal souls, but at the same time, nothing will change when they properly destroy the Another Rider as Makimura will still be dead. Makimura also refuised the Another Ghost power, also showing how he's a good person compared to other Another Riders, yet Heure still forced his choice to him without regards, and a corrupting one at that. And I guess anti-hero term is more fitting to evaluate entire character, instead of single/few actions, like if someone who is overall bad but had done few good, it only adds redeeming quality first to them first instead of outright heroic traits.