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| It's already been epic. But man. 🤯 I do wish the subs used the names they actually say though, that thing will probably forever bug me... |
| Ya, this approaching a 10. My 11th out of 577 completed. I stuck around for the art and world. Re-watched, so I understood what the hell was going on. Now I'm locked in and have to report this season has been a masterpiece on all metrics. |
| So Amiya have the power of Echo. I reflected while watching the episode and thought. If you want a full Ch'en experience, you watch the first episode and jump for this one. Ch'en in those exchanges between Amiya and Talulah is just going with the flow. Lord of Fiends? Possesion? What the heck these two are talking about? |
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| That was beautiful. Watching the Reunion arc again just reminds me how tragic Talulah's story is. She deserves so much better than experiencing the shit she went through. Happy to see a bit of Bagpipe with Ch'en there. I look forward to when they eventually adapt her full appearance |
Gift by Mimurona |
| The Wrathful Cerulean Flame has been awakened, the blade of the Sarkaz reforged through the fires of rage and sorrow, to smite down those who would contribute to the same cycle of hatred and vengeance that both the Infected and the Sarkaz have been stuck in for centuries. Amiya getting her sword was as hype of a moment as I expected it to be, no complaints from me, production team continues to pump out bangers. I'm also glad to see that my worries were unfounded, and they did indeed show us the moment that Talulah "snapped". It's such a peak moment, and honestly my favourite part of her character arc - the "prophecy" that Kaschey uttered coming to fruition as Talulah's anger is finally sparked beyond the point of no return. The way it is handled in-game is superb: After the story section showing us Talulah discovering the remains of the the Infected in the barn and figuring out they must have been left there to starve, the game throws you into a Stage with no enemies and where you cannot deploy units - all that's there is "Ursus Civilians" (neutral characters who, up to that point, you needed to protect against enemies), and Talulah, who walks into the stage and slowly sets the entire thing on fire as the civilians flee from her, before she finally kills them all. The game then leaves you with the "Operation Complete" screen, but without the usual happy voice line signifying victory from one of your operators. It's such a perfect example of using the video game medium as part of the storytelling, and while obviously they couldn't replicate that in the anime, I am happy with how they handled one of my favourite parts in this arc. And from that... we get to my least favourite part of this arc, and my least favourite plot twist. That Duke Kaschey's "curse", and him telling Talulah that she would "become him" wasn't merely a figure of speech, but an *actual* bona fide attempt at possession. I like the idea of the Deathless Black Snake, and he's far from the only "immortal" being in the story, but IMHO Kaschey's curse should have remained a metaphor. Oh well. One more episode remaining! |
BenzuxAug 29, 10:19 AM
| "Such honors may please a weakling, but I am strong." "There are two kinds of people in the world: those who are (me), and those who are not." "The Sorcerer King is Justice and weakness is a sin. All hail Ainz Ooal Gown!" "Arrivederci." |
| “Rage. Rage” Holy shit man they’ve saved the best for last, absolutely incredible episode. Even tho I didn’t understand large parts of this season, this was a tour de force. Amiya channeling the King of Sarkaz and wielding his blade is one of the best scenes I’ve seen in a long time. I can’t wait for the climax of her fight with ‘Talulah’ Talulah’s descent into madness when she learned the villagers had let the infected starve to death and ignored their cries for help was so beautifully done. You can literally see the moment when all hope for the world vanishes from her eyes and the Duke of Kaschey is able to take over. So I have a lore question there, is the Duke himself a being that’s been passed down from person to person or is that black snake the evil entity that possessed him and then Talulah? Regardless, I can’t wait for next episode. It’ll essentially be the king of sarkaz anger and resentment for the world vs talulah’s. Whose feelings will be stronger? |
Marinate1016Aug 29, 2:13 PM
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Reply to Sheol01
So now there is a possesion also? This is a bit confusing, but I assume it goes back to the Od guy's death. Everything is coming together now.
| @Sheol01 Sheol01 said: So now there is a possesion also? This is a bit confusing, but I assume it goes back to the Od guy's death. Everything is coming together now. There are a lot of supernatural things on the planet. Beings that can't die because their souls just finds a new vessel are just one of them. Kashchey is what they call an 'Ageless'. |
| For those who don't know, the blue colored guy who appeared when Amiya unleashed her powers is Qui'lon. He was the 4th King of the Sarkaz about 6000 years ago, and the 1st half blood Black Crown wielder. In the game he's one of the toughest bosses in a theoretical rogue game mode. It's easier to just let him walk out of the map instead of trying to fight him. The story a touches the lore of the Sarkaz race a LOT. They're the species who we spend the most time with. So get ready for more in the next 3 seasons of Arknights... ^_^ |
| Emperor's Blades and Bagpipe are finally in the anime. Could this mean we might get Act II adapted in the future? This episode showed a lot. We got Ch'en's flashback with Wei, Bagpipe and Nine, the remaining part of Talulah's past, and finally the battle with the Deathless Black Snake, Kashchey. I especially liked how Talulah's eyes were shown in the flashback after Alina's death. Seeing Guard Amiya was hype too, although I kinda wish we had Wrathful Cerulean Flame playing in the background like in the game's cutscene. |
| Undeniably another incredible episode, paced real well, good ost placement, good dialogue management so you can still get in Kascheys condescending statements at Amiya and Ch'en while still having some action in the middle, the transition from Amiya going back into Talulahs memory was great, Talulahs crashout was done real well and was a place that a skip into the madness and the end result was a great decision, and of course, holy shit Amiyas guard transformation scene. Between the Qui'lion cameo and hype up dialogue, the just brilliant animation of the entire sequence, and Amiyas resolve at the end, god just brilliant. Y'all gonna make me wait another week after that, man! |
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| In many ways and for a long time now, the story has gotten very complicated. In one respect that's a tremendous thing as it provides practically endless things - details of the world setting, mini-conflicts, internal conflicts, etc. to think about. On the other hand, especially as it approaches what's at least a season finale (and possibly, although hopefully not series finale), there is a danger which lies in that in that it can make everything and especially the climax and culmination itself overly convoluted to the point one stops caring. Fortunately, this has still remained intelligible throughout although some watching may choose to pick and choose, focus on just one layer of the conflict and regard the others as a distraction. One of the highlights to me has been not just the depth they've given Talulah's character, but that of various of the Reunion commanders in their views of and relationships with each other. How Talulah first viewed Patriot as difficult to deal with and a stubborn old man yet a powerful and popular authority figure with a lot of clout to his name she could argue and debate with, craved the acceptance of, and was overjoyed to eventually receive it. How even in what will probably be her last days as the head of Reunion and long after she already became paranoid and deliberately segmented the organization, just until recently when he was still alive and they had their last meeting and exchange, she viewed him still as someone equally or more physically powerful she had to defer to and treat with some respect and tact despite how she was already treating all others, but how she was lying and deceived him only saying what she deemed probably the "right" things to keep him onside as long as possible. How she grew to fear him as perhaps the last one capable of challenging her and threat to her power. Yet how she was genuinely quietly shaken and moved when learning of him falling in battle while she was alone, and shed tears. And the same goes for multiple of the others in different forms and extents. How Faust, just shown last episode in that flashback, was angry and terrified by what Mephisto did with that massacre, but still cared for, protected, liked and probably loved him, while pitying him also, and chose the route of self-sacrifice to die for him to buy time for him and the rest of their squad to escape in that hail of arrows in season two. FrostNova's initial coldness toward Talulah and being onboard in theory with even killing and snuffing her out at a later date if determined to be the necessary and correct course of action, as revealed in the flashback to private conversations held with Patriot. But the fast sisterly friendship they formed in spite of that. And when she herself was dying from battle wounds and the infection ravaging her body, still having the energy, motivation and wherewithal/cognizance to use some of the last moments of her life to beseech Doctor to do everything possible to try to save her if he and Rhodes Island could, the Talulah still "walking through the mud". The one we see and have been led to now. And so on and so forth. Not even touching on the complexity of W and how she saw her role in relation to all this and all of them. One that I wish we had gotten a lot more of, which again may come down to episode count/runtime-based time constraints, is Crownslayer. Now, one issue I may have and I will only be able to decide that after seeing the final episode and how ultimately everything is conveyed in the wrapping up - and this is an issue with a lot of final showdowns and huge confrontations ending large and long-running conflicts involving multiple characters, factions, ideologies, and different levels to everything going on - is that it's in danger of getting a little too esoteric. Part of me would rather they just focus on the war and political machinations of everything which has transpired - disenfranchisement and dehumanization of the Infected and power jockeying in a bloody civil conflict, etc., and even the psychological and emotional side of the characters including Talulah and other Reunion as I mentioned above, but when it starts getting into a more spiritual/metaphysical dimension, as in she is literally being possessed and her submerged consciousness is struggling to rise above water and break through another's spirit and consciousness - one (Kaschey) who has been painted by the series as a much more unambiguous jet black villain with nothing redeeming within or motivating anything he says or does (not saying that it doesn't exist and it probably does, since I don't believe in such jet black or lily white characters or people - just that we haven't been shown it), it runs the risk of cheapening it a little. As in my view there is already more than enough, a lot of which has been already shown however breezed through, which can explain completely how her or many other people in the same position if they had the same set of events and circumstances happen to them in the same way in the same time and place, could extremely easily and plausibly be led down the same or similar path and trajectory. So I don't know if that extra spiritual possession angle adds even greater desired depth or needless over-complication or even kind of a cop-out baked in. I don't know if there will ever be a clear answer to that - it'll just be up to each individual viewer to determine whether it works or not and what works best, which I suppose is how it always is. But man, are series like this, particularly when they end in such an emotionally-charged way and one leaving you uncertain for ages about they handled such an assortment of plotlines and ideas, hard to rate. I feel like this and so much of the series has nearly every single episode so finely straddled the line and flown close to the sun, closer than many other things I've seen, to being either a masterpiece or a hot mess. And I'm only ever grateful that it's leaned closer to the former. |
WatchTillTandavaAug 29, 4:57 PM
| This was sad to see, even the Visual Novel style with the first animation the game had was more hype than the actual anime animation. Not sure why they took out the song that was written for the scene and shortening the whole part about the Sarkaz Kings memory didn't really help either. While it may have been too long in the game, it also makes the actual reveal that much more epic. It is so sad to not 'burn the clouds away' though, and they even could one to one copy the animation of the game, and it would have been better, but instead they went generic epic song nr 7 with more or less decent but standard animation. (Not that it was generally bad, but it had nowhere near the weight of the game, and it should have, given the medium of anime compared to freaking Visual Novel style text.) I can understand them making the whole story a lot more concise and leaving details by the wayside, but the one thing that always loomed is the payoff for all that comes before, all the build up that now gets a payoff and they put it in the back of an episode and somehow made it a generic power up. Sad, just sad. Hope that at least people that don't know the original can enjoy it. |
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| great episode wow, can't wait to see the next one... |
| The best Anime/Manga account on IG just have a look, you won't regret it... IG: https://www.instagram.com/otakuweek?igsh=em5kY3Q4NTVtNXlh / Discord for more review: https://discord.gg/vbZrk64uH7 |
Reply to Marinate1016
“Rage. Rage” Holy shit man they’ve saved the best for last, absolutely incredible episode. Even tho I didn’t understand large parts of this season, this was a tour de force. Amiya channeling the King of Sarkaz and wielding his blade is one of the best scenes I’ve seen in a long time. I can’t wait for the climax of her fight with ‘Talulah’
Talulah’s descent into madness when she learned the villagers had let the infected starve to death and ignored their cries for help was so beautifully done. You can literally see the moment when all hope for the world vanishes from her eyes and the Duke of Kaschey is able to take over. So I have a lore question there, is the Duke himself a being that’s been passed down from person to person or is that black snake the evil entity that possessed him and then Talulah?
Regardless, I can’t wait for next episode. It’ll essentially be the king of sarkaz anger and resentment for the world vs talulah’s. Whose feelings will be stronger?
Talulah’s descent into madness when she learned the villagers had let the infected starve to death and ignored their cries for help was so beautifully done. You can literally see the moment when all hope for the world vanishes from her eyes and the Duke of Kaschey is able to take over. So I have a lore question there, is the Duke himself a being that’s been passed down from person to person or is that black snake the evil entity that possessed him and then Talulah?
Regardless, I can’t wait for next episode. It’ll essentially be the king of sarkaz anger and resentment for the world vs talulah’s. Whose feelings will be stronger?
| @Marinate1016 We actually don't know too much about the Deathless Black Snake (though some as-of-yet unreleased side event that hasn't hit the Global servers yet might have more insight, I wouldn't know). What we do know (and what is most relevant at this point) is that they are an immortal being who has watched the Ursus Empire rise and fall throughout the centuries, and their agenda seems to align with the Ursus Emperors' desires for conquest and ensuring the eternal glory of the Empire. Presumably, the Duke was either the DBS spirit's most recently-inhabited body, or his actual ageless physical body, but we know there's at least one other body he has inhabited. Whether that's an unfortunate possessed individual, or a separate identity to hide amongst the masses like the Duke possibly was, I do not know/remember. There are other ageless beings like him, like the ancient Feranmuts, powerful, logic-defying and often enormous beings, at least one of which we do know is capable of possessing humans, or the Sovereigns of Beasts, which the DBS could be based just on the name, which would make him the Sovereign of Snakes. They don't make too many appearances in the main story, however - I can only think of one main story-relevant Feranmut, but it won't appear until much later. |
| "Such honors may please a weakling, but I am strong." "There are two kinds of people in the world: those who are (me), and those who are not." "The Sorcerer King is Justice and weakness is a sin. All hail Ainz Ooal Gown!" "Arrivederci." |
| Oh my god, Guard Amiya! I've been waiting for this eversince the anime adaptation of Arknights has been announced. The pacing and OST on this episode was so good well placed, they really cooked on this episode. Now we have to wait one more week for the finale of Reunion arc. Also my potatoe girl Bagpipe finally making her anime debut on the flashback with Ch'en during their university days. If the Victoria arc also gets an anime adpation I would be very happy. I would have given this a perfect 5/5 if they used Wrathful Cerulean Flame OST during Amiya's transition from Caster to Guard class. |
OrangeRafiAug 29, 9:47 PM
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| Damn Talulah's past is tragic. But if Kashchey has been controlling Talulah's actions so far, is she guilty of the crimes "she" had done in the end? The animation and color design during Amiya's transformation to guard Amiya (apparently?) looks very similar to Heaven's Feel movie 3 Rider vs Saber battle. It's so satisfying to watch. It even has this badass shot like in HF.  No fucking way next week is the final episode. What even happens to Wei? Last time we saw him was before Rhodes' infiltration to the nomadic city. I hope it'll be a satisfying final episode, wish they'd at least make it twice as long to make up for it. |
"Nobody could laugh at someone who's trying their hardest" -Machio- |
| this ending with Amiya :o <3 fantastic, one more episode before the end |
| Of course, the typical "she is possessed" plot so Talulah can be forgiven for everything after all of this is over. It's really sad to see how bad this season was. I really liked the two previous seasons, but this one sucked. At least only one episode is left to end. |
Reply to Grecefar
Of course, the typical "she is possessed" plot so Talulah can be forgiven for everything after all of this is over.
It's really sad to see how bad this season was. I really liked the two previous seasons, but this one sucked. At least only one episode is left to end.
It's really sad to see how bad this season was. I really liked the two previous seasons, but this one sucked. At least only one episode is left to end.
Grecefar said: Of course, the typical "she is possessed" plot so Talulah can be forgiven for everything after all of this is over. If you think anyone's going to forgive Talulah after this is over, then I've got some news for you buddy! |
| This is probably a cold take but the very existence of the Duke weakens Talulah character, IMO. Like, you could do everything the same and just remove this small thing and it would be basically the same, but there wouldn't be this big attenuating shadow looming over character and her actions. It would be a very understandable development for her to gradually lose her idealism and sanity after witnessing all that shit without having this other guy, who we know nothing about other than that he is an asshole (and the show clearly doesn't care to explain, because in the end he doesn't matter), being some sort of mastermind over her breakdown. Why not let her own her actions and their consequences? |
Pleasant surprise to see animated Bagpipe here Hoping we can get Act II animated as well The presentation of the final sequence of Talulah's past really impressed me From the transition of Amiya in the elevator to Talulah's perspective   and small details like the heavy bags under her eyes in these scenes  she's probably not getting much sleep after Alina's death The silence after the sudden cut to the village in flames following her mental collapse  and as she briefly comes to realize what she has done, the sounds of the flames and screams of the villagers rush in  When this season was initially announced and after seeing how rushed Season 2 got near the end, I was honestly worried if they would be able to properly adapt this part of the story given how few episodes we have, but I think they've done a pretty great job. The interleaving of Talulah's past with the battle in the present is one of my favorite story sequences in the game and I'm really happy to finally see it animated in such a spectacular way. Looking forward to the finale |
Reply to HominiLupus
This is probably a cold take but the very existence of the Duke weakens Talulah character, IMO. Like, you could do everything the same and just remove this small thing and it would be basically the same, but there wouldn't be this big attenuating shadow looming over character and her actions. It would be a very understandable development for her to gradually lose her idealism and sanity after witnessing all that shit without having this other guy, who we know nothing about other than that he is an asshole (and the show clearly doesn't care to explain, because in the end he doesn't matter), being some sort of mastermind over her breakdown. Why not let her own her actions and their consequences?
| @HominiLupus I think the thing is that if everything the Black Snake did as Talulah was instead her acting completely of her own free will, she would truly be irredeemable, and Chen and Amiya would likely just kill her here instead of trying to save her, and that would be the end of her story. From a storytelling perspective this would probably have made for an overall better written antagonist of this arc over having some vague primordial evil pulling the strings from behind the scenes, but I think the writers have always had greater plans for Talulah's role in the overall story of the game. I think they wrote her character this way to allow for a path to redemption for her character and to one day come to ally with RI, as her original ideals are heavily aligned with RI's goals and vision. (It hasn't happened yet, but I still fully believe they intend to make her a playable character someday). That said, even if she remains the same hopeless idealist at heart that she was in the past, she will still need to take accountability for everything that has happened with Reunion. Even if her actions at the time were not her own, very few people involved in this incident would be convinced that these were the machinations of an unseen spirit monster that only a handful of individuals are even aware exists. Nobody would accept such a ridiculous sounding excuse, and the real Talulah isn't the kind of person that would allow herself be forgiven in such a way either. |
Reply to xDeusEJRx
Even though we were told from the beginning the Duke might possess Talulah, I still somehow assumed she turned to evil herself based on all the confrontations she had. I thought the burning the village scene was excellent
Great ep.
Great ep.
| @xDeusEJRx I believe the implication is that the Deathless Black Snake's possession of her was not immediate, but a slow process. He was likely influencing her emotions to lean towards the extremes at the beginning, but her actions were all her own, which then lead into a feedback loop where DBS influences her subtly -> Talulah performs more and more evil acts of her own free will -> the possession becomes stronger and stronger. In the adaptation, this is primarily implicated by the dialogue in this episode where Amiya says that DBS needs to make Talulah kill Ch'en herself to fully break her and allow him to take complete control. |
| "Such honors may please a weakling, but I am strong." "There are two kinds of people in the world: those who are (me), and those who are not." "The Sorcerer King is Justice and weakness is a sin. All hail Ainz Ooal Gown!" "Arrivederci." |
Reply to HominiLupus
This is probably a cold take but the very existence of the Duke weakens Talulah character, IMO. Like, you could do everything the same and just remove this small thing and it would be basically the same, but there wouldn't be this big attenuating shadow looming over character and her actions. It would be a very understandable development for her to gradually lose her idealism and sanity after witnessing all that shit without having this other guy, who we know nothing about other than that he is an asshole (and the show clearly doesn't care to explain, because in the end he doesn't matter), being some sort of mastermind over her breakdown. Why not let her own her actions and their consequences?
| @HominiLupus This is my main gripe with Chapter 8. The Deathless Black Snake's existence really butchers Talulah's character and arc. It was genuinely way cooler when Kaschey's "curse" was merely metaphorical - that she'd slowly see her idealism is hopeless in this cruel world, which would crush her spirit and make her a true successor to him. And we do legitimately see this happen in real time, which makes it all the more frustrating! I'm a huge sucker for plot twists and usually enjoy them, but when I was first going through Chapter 8 in-game and this revelation appeared, my initial reaction can be summed up by the meme image of José Mourinho taking off his headset. At least the writers didn't completely fuck it up, but it just makes me so sad as one of the very few big disappointments that Arknights' otherwise brilliant story has. |
| "Such honors may please a weakling, but I am strong." "There are two kinds of people in the world: those who are (me), and those who are not." "The Sorcerer King is Justice and weakness is a sin. All hail Ainz Ooal Gown!" "Arrivederci." |
HoboFreedom said: I think the thing is that if everything the Black Snake did as Talulah was instead her acting completely of her own free will, she would truly be irredeemable, and Chen and Amiya would likely just kill her here instead of trying to save her, and that would be the end of her story. Would they though? She is still Chen's sister, Doctor made a promise to a dying FrostNova that Rhodes Island would attempt to save her which he discussed with Amiya, and Amiya has never been shown up to this point to be a more ruthless "Shoot first and ask questions later" type of leader or fighter. |
Insanity_Monarch said: I just finished watching the episode, and man, I hope Amiya dies. I can't fucking stand her. What has she done to arouse your animosity and hatred? |
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