[Zolda]

This episode marks the debut of the new OP (or rather, a new version/arrangement of the OP). It's a nice arrangement, though I much prefer the first one.

Glion is carrying a golden Rubik's cube around. My girlfriend joked that he probably sucked at solving it that he transformed it into a golden one, haha. He's also able to perform dimension-bending/space-retransmutation like Shiori did at episode 12, though it seems like he does it much more proficiently without visible side effects, unlike Shiori who had rotten left hand which was probably caused by her much lower skills.

Aaaannnddd... *drum rolls* Out of his interdimensional vault, Glion pulls out a doll-like artifact that looks like a prototype/blank slate of homunculi/artificial humans. It seems like my hypothesis waaayyy back in episode 1 here was very likely correct. Like other stories about alchemy, from Frankenstein to Fullmetal Alchemist to Kamen Rider OOO, it seems like this series will also feature homunculi/artificial humans, which I think are mainly created by Glion and his death cult. If that artifact is indeed a homunculus, then what's the difference between homunculi and Chemies? Are homunculi actually Chemies in the shape of humans? Are homunculi "designer humans"? Atropos says that those doll-like artifacts are their/The Sisters' older brothers, so it's almost certain that The Sisters themselves are also homunculi. She also says that that doll-like artifact contains a lot of evil/malice. If The Sisters are homunculi, then what is Glion? Is he also a homunculus? Or is he just a normal human (albeit with a very high level of alchemy skills like Fuga)? What was the cause of his disappearance in the first 15 episodes?

Glion casually enters the AA without being detected by anyone, probably thanks to his proficient dimension-bending/space-retransmutation skills. It seems like Glion had a long connection with the AA in the past. He was probably a former student of the AA. He also implies that he had known Minato, yet when Minato sees him, he doesn't seem to recognize him. Was he Minato's former classmates/peers?

KR Gotchard Daybreak (aka GD) says that Houtarou's current ability can't defeat the Moon Malgam. He says @ 08:47 that the Moon Malgam is Glion's custom Malgam, not a normal Malgam that's created from a human host, so my hypothesis about the existence of homunculi/artificial humans I elaborate above is probably correct. Glion's homunculi are much stronger than normal humans, so it's no wonder that the Malgam that's created from it is also stronger than normal Malgams. This also explains why The Sisters can fuse themselves with the power of 3 Chemies simultaneously without additional tools like the Gotchardriver or the Valvarusher. And why does the Moon Malgam need to kidnap 4 humans? Is it to absorb their life force or something?

GD also says @ 09:05 that Houtarou is going to face a great turmoil in the near future that will result in the loss of his faith. Sooo... It seems like GD knows a lot about Houtarou's future (and probably his past as well). I have a hypothesis that GD is probably a Houtarou from an alternate future who came to the past to change it. It seems like his life (and his world) in the future had already ruined, and he returned to the past in a last ditch effort to change it. Although, what he's ultimately changing is probably not his own reality/timeline, but an alternate one. The (alternate?) future where he comes from is probably not even a far future 10, 20, or 30 years from now, but a near future, like several months from the present time. I think his motivation is similar to Future Trunks' from Dragon Ball.

I'm curious as to how GD travels to the (alternate?) past. I hypothesized in episode 12 here that there are forbidden aspects of universe/nature that must not be violated with alchemy. Several things in nature are forbidden to be tampered with. Space is one of those forbidden aspects. Several other forbidden aspects, I suspect, are time, birth, and death. GD/future Houtarou is very likely risking his very own existence by travelling to the past to save his world. His situation could be similar to the old Yuuto Sakurai's from KR Den-O. If GD is indeed a Houtarou from an alternate future, then this could be a very interesting development.

From Kyouka's and Spanner's dialogue in this episode, it's implied that Spanner is Kyoka's foster child. They met when Spanner was caught in an accident 10 years ago that Kyouka was investigating. That accident was swept under the rug by the AU. I think this is the same accident/event that Shiori was referring to in episode 12 here, and the same incident when Fuga stole 101 RCC's from the AU's vault. Those events 10 years ago that happened at almost the same time at least connected with each other. This accident probably also had something to do with Houtarou's (and his mom's) tampered memories. Kyouka also states @ 11:07 that Fuga vanished with a secret. What's it? Is it a method to improve the Gotchardriver to make it the perfect key to open The Door of Darkness (aka an absolute access and total control of the Ouroboros world)? She's actually intended to prove his innocence, so she probably has known (or at least has suspected) that something was up with the AU's involvement in the crucial event a decade ago. This implies that the Gotchardriver that she's currently working on (that's intended to be used by Spanner) could be her own secret project that is unknown to and unauthorized by the AU's top brasses. This secret project is probably the insurance she's prepared in the case that she and Spanner get eventually disposed of by the AU.

Spanner says @ 11:23 that many alchemists lost their lives in the accident. It seems like the event required a huge amount of alchemical power. It's interesting to see what actually happened in that fated event. My hypothesis in episode 12 (here) and 16 (here) is that it seems like one or several people had almost successfully executed the grand plan of opening The Door of Darkness in the past, albeit screwed up by a saboteur (Fuga? Glion?). It seems like there was another tool that was the Gotchardriver's predecessor that when combined with the 101 RCC's also had the ability to "grasp the truth about alchemy", very likely referring to the ability to access the power of the Ouroboros.

Minato appears before Spanner @ 13:10 and requests a talk with him. He looks like he has a very serious matter to talk to with Spanner. Does it have something to do with the previous encounter between Minato and Glion? Did Glion spill some secrets about the event a decade ago?

GD is stronger and has higher amount of raw power compared to Gotchard, but unlike Gotchard it seems like he can't separate a Chemy from a Malgam. Another nice feature of Glion's golden/homunculi Malgam is that it's able to withstand even Super Gotchard's finisher and is able to regenerate itself.

Spanner is shooting at Minato @ 18:01 because Minato demands that he and the students to submit their RCC's and Rings to him. So, my hypothesis in episode 6 here was very likely correct. The students (and other lower-ranked members of the AU, including Spanner and probably also Kyouka) are merely disposable pawns that are manipulated by the AU to catch the Chemies. Once the 101 Chemies/RCC's are collected, these pawns will be Neuralyzed and then be conveniently disposed of by the AU. Minato says that Houtarou and the other students (and Spanner) is about be expelled from the AU. The Sisters then appear and introduce themselves as the new students of the AA. So, what Minato probably meant by "the time has finally come" in episode 16 @ 22:30 was that he decided that it was finally the time to dispose of Houtarou and the other lower-ranked members of the AU.

Is Minato's sudden betrayal caused by him being mind-controlled by Glion? I don't think so. It seems like he's doing this out of his own volition. Or is he secretly another one of Glion's spies all this time? I also don't think so. From his demeanor in this scene, it seems like he's forced to do this. Spanner's RCC's are conveniently confiscated by Minato, so in episode 19 or 20 he'll transform with the Gotchardriver and the upgraded RCC's (Machwheel & Daiohni). Oh, and I didn't expect that Minato would use the Dreadriver this early, haha.

Next week:

GD will use Timelord's (Artifact 7) power to take Houtarou to the past. I think this past is not the real past, but a mere passive "recordings" of the past, similar to the past shown by Tom Riddle's diary or the past viewed through the Pensieve in Harry Potter. There's a B&W scene that shows some kind of a duel between Glion and Fuga. It looks like Glion was younger than Fuga, but older than Minato. Glion is shown wearing a uniform that looks similar to other high-ranked alchemists like Fuga and Minato, so my hypothesis in episode 4 (here), 7 (here), and 8 (here) about Glion's/The Sister's death cult being an offshoot of the AU was very likely correct. This duel that happened some time before the event/accident a decade ago (and probably also Glion's fascination with homunculi/artificial humans) was probably what started the schism between the AU/Fuga and Glion's death cult. I wonder what's the color of Glion's Alchemist Ring. Is his Ring like Minato's (red gem with silver shank) or Fuga's (red gem with golden shank)? This scene also pretty much confirms that Glion is just a normal human with a very high level of alchemy skills like Fuga, so I pretty much answer my own question above in this very same comment, haha.