[Frontier]

All the emotional beats of this episode hit hard for me.

Like Is, inspired by Aruto and believing so much in his dream of humanxHumagear coexistence risking herself for that dream by trying to get through to Horobi like Aruto would...only for it too be too late or not matter in the end. But I still found that brave in its own right.

Or how Horobi is so determined to continue on this path of hate and violence because it's all he's ever known and all he knows how to do.

Or Aruto, a man filled with heroism and ideals and who believes in the best in people...losing that most precious person to him because she believed in his ideals and being powerless to stop it. Left with only a facsimilie of Is goading him and the prospect of revenge, it turns him into the very thing he fought against...because the hate finally consumed him.

And in destroying Is, Horobi has created an even bigger threat than he could have possibly imagined.

But, yeah, Ark-One! It's a really cool suit, you don't expect the hero to become the villain, and yet as a fusion of Ark and Zero-One it works surprisingly well in capturing a melding of both characters while being pretty obviously evil.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It's a boring point, I guess? Beyond being an illustration of Horobi's lack of enthusiasm about his plot to exterminate humanity... why would a show think spending an episode with a homicidal/genocidal villain who's just going through the motions would be compelling drama? Why wouldn't you tell a story that makes Horobi less of a limp presence?

Because it served a character purpose?

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I think Izu showing up to try and talk sense into Horobi is a good thing. I think two Humagears deserve to have a conversation about the direction of their species and culture. I think Izu trying to have the same conversation mid-murder spree is, much like Jin's attempts to stop Vulcan from murdering a currently-murdering Horobi in an attempt to de-escalate tensions, pretty stupid. I am okay with characters making poor decisions because it makes sense to their characters. I am less okay with characters acting stupidly to further the plot.

Can it be a bit of both?