Like clockwork, after brief 22-minute long pit stops, the episode after said events brings us full force to that Road to Renewed Strength and Promise like it has in the past. Minutes into the show, without any of the pre-battle warm-up talks Tekkadan has already engaged with Jasley’s forces. By episode’s end, they acquire total victory over the man.
There are stakes to be had here since the last episode ended with a potential confrontation of multiple parties from Jasley, Tekkadan, and even Kujan. Yet, in a surprising twist, despite all the frenetic action that occurs in this episode, what’s more interesting is what DOESN’T happen. I guess Rustal’s lack of energy in the previous episode compared to Kujan’s bevy of it had more to it than that, with him restraining Kujan (who doesn’t even APPEAR in the episode) from joining up with Jasley. From what the episode implies, he had an offscreen conversation with McMurdo on the situation and blueballed both Jasley and Kujan from a chance at catharsis. McMurdo even breaks Orga’s Sakazuki cup offscreen and we are shown its remains with very little dramatic fanfare. Both a shame and expected, but a pleasant surprise how McMurdo doesn’t take it TOO hard. He (alongside us) knows Orga offered his cup if he decides to break his oath, and even so he is not surprised or TOO disappointed in the slightest bit that this is the case now. Time to move on is the message for that scene, as well as another where Kudelia finds out Tekkadan has cut ties to her, possibly for protection. Unlike McMurdo, she doesn’t take it well.
