[DreamSword]

Episode 18: Illusion

Gotta say, the twist about Sophie's' brother was really obvious.

What I wasn't expecting, however, was for Sophie's' phone to be literally magic. I always thought those virtual sequences were all in her head.

Anyway, the crew at long last touch down in El Dorado. Unfortunately, that last attack spend almost all of the group's' resources, so Gina retreats to go and grab some supplies. So it's up to Luke, Sword, and Sophie to investigate the town.

Although this is primarily meant to be a Sophie-focused episode, my biggest takeaway of it all actually came from Sword and Luke. There's a scene where Sophie wonders why Sword isn't mourning Zaruba, and Luke explains to her the inherent difference in how Makai handle death.

The Knights and Alchemists are always prepared to fulfill their duties to the end, and as such, continuing to fight on and living life to the fullest is seen as the best way to honor their fallen comrades. It's the sort of message that I actually really personally relate to, as it's very similar to the way I was taught to handle the deaths of loved ones.

That aside, this episode does offer a big leap forward in the plot. Not only cluing in to how Sophie's' brother Martin factors into all of this, but what exactly the endgame plan of El Dorado exactly is. They want to, you guessed it, take over the world.

And they mean in all ways too. Business, politics, you name it. It's a slight step up from simply wanting to eat everyone ala the plots of the previous two anime.

After so much time with Luke going solo and Sword and Gina being a pair, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Luke and Sword play off eachother again.