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Lots of talking this episode. I honestly thought the swordsmith was going to sell them out and they'd break out fighting right there. I wonder if Balsa would have been able to take them with a sword instead of her trusty spear. Overall it was an interesting albeit roundabout way to learn a little bit of Balsa's past.

Enjoyed this episode, had a nice suspenseful moment as you mentioned It looked like for a moment there that a fight was going to happen.. it came very close. Got some nice backstory there for a bit but that was all. I still rather enjoyed the episode, but I'm craving some action :(

so the old man's story is about Balsa when she was the protected child? its ironic she's the one doing the protecting now and its great her spear is as good as new again.

Pretty well done episode. Points for the background on Balsa's master and the "suspenseful moment" (quoting MistaNight). I think it's abou time we got a little bit of action too... but from the looks of it, it's still not gonna happen in the next episode. Even so I'm looking foward to it.

A part of me thought it was a boring episode, while another thought it was very interesting and clever.

This episode reminded me a lot of the recent episodes of Claymore I've seen. Like mirror images, in a way. I am really falling in love with these characters, and if this show keeps on with it's current quality, it'll surely be one of my favorites of all time once it ends.

And I still wanna grow up to be Balsa.

Definitely enjoyable episode. Is there anyone else out there that wants Chagum to become a warrior/bodyguard just like Balsa? I'll be a little disappointed if he goes the medicine route.

yea, I hope Chagum gonna be a spearman just like Balsa.

me~

But I have my doubts about it somehow. I'm guessing he's more likely to "battle" eventually, but using the water spirit powers. He did save himself and Balsa unconsciously when they where underwater on the first episode if I remember right.

Late on this episode...

Anyway, I really like the way the swordsmith was able to get the story out of the two elite guardsman. He proved to be fair and understanding of the situation. In a way it was touching, when he told the story of the swordsman. It looks like Balsa's situation has turned full circle. Very interesting, indeed.

Man, all I know is there had better be some nice action scenes after her spear get fixed to make up for all the boredom I've had to suffer recently.

Am I the only one who thought Chagum was going to ask Balsa to train him when he woke up and saw her training in the morning? I enjoyed this episode, loved the tension at the smithy, I liked the fact that there was only tension at the smithy and not a fight scene but thats just me. 9/10 for this episode.

For an dialogue driven episode with basically no action, there was constant tension and intrigue. That's great writing and storytelling, IMO. Full marks.

Yep, agreed, that was pretty talented storytelling, suspenseful even though there was no fight. That was an authentic moment with the conversation in the smithy (the smith is a wily old fox, btw) about great swordsmen, Japanese through and through, I liked that. I like that her weapon is a normal spear with dings and dents and not the Magic Sword of the Heavens, or something like that. It was interesting to learn that the spear was a foot soldier's weapon too. They're fleshing out the personalities of the guardsmen nicely. And they took the trouble to depict an actual forge and mill, nice. :D

What with old man Gandalf and the statues, I thought I was watching LoTR for a second there, lol.

Really good episode, lots of backstory and just a real blast to watch.

Yes, this was a very good episode, no action but it was hardly necessary as all of the talking gave me chills.

Well this makes the end of episode 3 make a hell of alot more sense.

And also I think I have figured out these deaths that Balsa is trying to atone for. I'll have to keep watching to see if I'm right.

You wouldn't think that a whole episode about getting a new spear head forged would be so exciting. This show sure knows how to build the tension, and never have I been so intrigued by such fantastic dialogue before. What an interesting episode. The end of episode three does indeed make a lot more sense now as well. :P

I think my heart skip a beat when swordsmith open that door. Nice episode.

Even though there was just a lot of discussion I still found the episode interesting, great to see Balsa's new spear. Although I do wonder how the assassins will discover she is still alive.