And now it is time to say goodbye.

It turns out Folken’s kill of Dornkirk had some intended consequences after all in the latter’s part, serving as a dead man’s switch to turn the Zone of Absolute Fortune online. Now, in ghost form, (which is weird since he’s an Earthling, I guess his will was strong enough to exist as a spectre), Isaac/Dornkirk observes with Hitomi the effects of his final gambit. What is it? Makes everybody’s wishes come true.

Unfortunately for everybody, it has them act upon the emotion they are in at the current moment. So it means all these kingdoms which appeared in the last few episodes want to conquer one another now, dissolving their alliance by way of bloodshed. While they do such, we see how Isaac/Dornkirk takes it: in scientific dispassion. Here is a man so wedded to ending conflict by any means necessary, that he will write off wanton slaughter if this is the inevitable result of his actions. Far cry from the Atlanteans, who at least give warnings and seal away powers in an attempt to not let history repeat itself. It seems like reason awake does not stave off the monsters they say its slumber would bring. No complaints here at this overarching threat in the last part of the endgame, for it is within our foe’s character and rationale. read more

Oh boy, this is an episode I’ve been looking forward to. The penultimate episode of Escaflowne is one of those kinds of episode that does its best to try and wrap up just about every lingering character arc. In a show like Escaflowne where its end is pretty darn definitive, this is both a necessary and proper venture. However, does it go a good job in that regard and we’re left satisfied in the end of it? Well, yes and no. I’ve never been really gaga about this episode, even if I’m aware of the momentous events occurring in it, and even after so many years since my last watch of it, it still remains. read more

When I first watched this I did not think much about why Hitomi returned to the first episode and not at a point on Earth where it matches the time she spent on Gaea. All I knew then was that it was for plot purposes and I guess made sense at the time.

Fast forward to now and thanks to keener observation I can see why it makes a lot of sense for them to do that. Recall if you will Episode 17, where Schezar Sr. wishes to see Granny Kanzaki one more time as he lays dying in the snow. When she reappears, he’s confused as to why she looks the same as she did the last time they met, yet surmises such is the case since the power of Atlantis is the human heart. As such, and given how she is unaware of what has transpired since she left (especially since her mom was kinda sorta not worried), Hitomi goes back to where it all began, a place her heart knows and desires. read more

Predictably, Van’s reunion with Folken is met with tepid response by the former. In the latter’s case however, he is met with great success when it comes to being an integral resource for Asturia and other allied Gaean nations in preparation for the inevitable clash with Zaibach.

Yet, even with this setup, Folken moves into the background for the most part this episode. Instead, we are back to Hitomi again, now feeling a further separation between her and the world she inhabits. Van maintains his emotional distance from her with a slight veneer of apathy and an itchy trigger finger, and Allen has become overly protective, scolding Hitomi for venturing out of the palace due to the previous events in the last two episodes. In an unusual volte-face, Hitomi snaps back at her current objet d’rool. Then it gets even worse when Allen finally admits his love for her, and even spills that Chid is his and Marlene’s kid. While this makes for a charming (if short) scene with her and Millerna, reversing the “I have this friend” scene in Episode 15, she comes out of this episode not feeling in the slightest bit close to anybody, everybody seems to be pushing her away. read more