[Zolda]

Lachesis continues her display of jealousy of Atropos constantly receiving Glion's favor. Or perhaps it's not jealousy toward Atropos, but resentment toward Glion? Clotho is absent in this episode.

Glion mentions @ 01:38 that he performed an unfinished experiment a decade ago, which was shown as him opening an inter-dimensional portal (which is very likely what have been referred to as the door of darkness since the beginning of the story), seemingly to another world (which I presume is the Ouroboros). But in episode 18 he was shown to have been able to enter the Ouroboros world. So far, the only way of entering the Ouroboros world is via assistance by Chemies, most often by Steamliner, or by Timelord as shown in episode 18, although The Sisters have been shown to also be able to open a portal to the Ouroboros. So, what the heck was that portal that Glion still attempted to open? Why was/is that portal so crucial to the story? Perhaps the portal that Glion failed to open was the ultimate, permanent portal that can connect (and I believe also fuse) the world with the Ouroboros world, thus bringing true chemistry to the world like Glion stated in episode 18. Perhaps the one who holds the key (the Gotchardriver) to the ultimate portal is able to manipulate the laws of nature at will.

It seems like golden is Glion's signature color. The word 金/kin (gold) is homophonous to the word 禁/kin (forbidden). His golden rubik cube is the symbol of his obsession with the dark arts of forbidden alchemy such as dimension-bending/space-retransmutation, the creation of homunculi, and probably several other nasty tricks. I hope he can also create a Horcrux like Voldemort could, haha.

Kyouka mentions @ 07:07 that Spanner's parents were masters of the arts of armed alchemy, which was supposed to be much stronger than Glion's golden/forbidden alchemy. But then how come they were easily defeated and killed by Glion? It seems like Glion's act of opening the door of darkness/the ultimate portal also somehow granted him with a small amount of the ultimate power of the Ouroboros, which was why Glion was able to defeat Spanner's parents single-handedly, quite literally, haha. I think that this small amount of the ultimate power also granted him with limited ability to control the Ouroboros.

My hypothesis last week here about Spanner's parents who appear in this episode being mere specters was both true and false. It turns out that they're not disembodied souls, but also not actual, revived, flesh and bone humans, thus they have no memories of what happened on the fated day. They don't even know that they've been dead for a decade, haha. They're not specters, but puppets with limited memories or even false memories. Being mere puppets, they can't use their alchemy powers, so they're created with the sole purpose of crushing Spanner's morale. After all, they're created by the Angel Malgam. I kinda chuckle when Spanner's dad is having his Orphenoch moment @ 10:00, haha.

Spanner is also initially shown having no memories of what happened to his parents, thinking that they've just returned from a long-term mission. But later it's shown that Spanner's memories of the fated day a decade ago was manipulated by Kyouka to lessen his suffering due to the trauma of witnessing his parents' death. So, now there are 4 people who are able to perform memory manipulation: Minato, Fuga, Glion, and Kyouka. Glion mentions @ 11:52 that he's about to release the power of the darkness hidden within Spanner. It seems like what happened when Glion attempted to open the ultimate portal was the raw power of the Ouroboros being channeled to the many alchemists who happened to be in close proximity to it, including kid Spanner. Being the raw power of the Ouroboros channeled directly to humans, not through Chemies, RCC's, or tools/Drivers like the Valvarusher or the Gotchardrivers, many alchemists died in the process and only several survived. Kid Spanner was very likely one of the survivors, along with Fuga and Glion, of course. Kid Spanner also showed limited ability to control the Ouroboros and create portal-tendrils. So, his Valvarad suit was created by Kyouka as a tool to help him control his power of darkness. This also explains why his best match RCC's (Machwheel & Daiohni) don't amount to 10, but 12, and both use number 6 to symbolize his power of darkness (and also to symbolize the number of sides in a bolt). As Glion states @ 14:37, it seems like he's been planning to ultimately claim Spanner's black flame power as his own. And what does Angel Malgam mean when he says @ 21:46 that Spanner is destined to be Glion's servant? Oh, and it's very cute when Rinne has a hard time inserting the RCC's into her Gotchardriver @ 20:49, haha.

Minato's actions are getting more suspicious. I think he's a double agent who is playing along with Glion's schemes to uncover his endgame. His true aim is probably to sabotage Glion's ultimate plan at the eleventh hour. Though, I'm not sure which side he swore his allegiance to.

What's kinda disappointing in this episode is that both KR Fire Gotchard and KR Majade who very recently debuted in episode 18 and 19 respectively are already overpowered by the Angel Malgam.

Next week:

Spanner's debut as KR Valvarad. Based on the preview, it seems like Spanner's Gotchar Igniter is a copy of Houtarou's created by Kyouka. And his parents will appear again?