Took me all DAY to download this.
But it was WORTH it. Now I just have to wait for the next episode...
Spoilers white-protected:
Well, well, well. Ginga&Subaru's mother, as well as Lu's mother, were members of Zest's team. And now we know how Cinque lost her eye (I'd had a theory before connecting Cinque to the girl whose eye Vice shot out, but that got shot down in Ep23).
This probably also explains why Zest and Lu were only partially under Scagliatti's control, and why Zest stuck to her so much; he was taking care of his teammate's orphaned daughter.
Never thought I'd feel sorry for Regius, but I do, a little. Each one of the little steps down this path probably seemed right, or at least justifiable, at the time, but it's only now that he looks at the whole emergent pattern and realizes just what he's done.
And, in a twist that violates the usual Laws of Drama, he not only doesn't get a chance to atone, he doesn't even get a chance to apologize.
Poor Lu. Quattro-who-deserves-to-die-slowly cranked that Insecurity Logic Bomb in Lu's head up to 11 and let it run. Caro keeps trying to reach her, and Erio keeps trying to reach Garyuu soldier-to-soldier. But Lu's too lost in her own pain to do anything but lash out blindly, and her summons are too loyal to disobey even for her own good (though I note that with Lu comatose they had enough flexibility to back off).
Fate needs to give her "daddy" what Raven gave to Trigon in that episode of Teen Titans. You've got a lot of gall, calling yourself her 'father', Scagliatti.
OTOH, he can twist her deepest insecurities almost as well as Precia did.
I've felt sorry for (at least some) of the CCs for a while now, but THIS is just... oy. And it's going to make for one bloody heck of a moral dilemma once the dust settles -- if each CC is carrying a memory-copied clone of Scagliatti, what happens to the chibi-Scaggies when they're born (it seems a safe bet that at least some of the CCs would refuse abortions, regardless of how things fall out)? I mean, just how 'hard'-coded are these transferred memories?
Every season seems to bring Fate face-to with her deepest demons. S1 had Precia rejecting her utterly, S2 gave her a chance at a fantasy life with everything she wanted most, and now Scaggliatti unearths her greatest fear: that she is no different from Precia, that she's just been using Erio and Caro to satisfy her own deep-seated need for love. Fate, hon, we all use the people we love to satisfy our emotional needs -- it's part of being human. But Precia just took from you, and gave nothing back. You've given to these kids, and while they love you as much as you loved Precia, you also made them strong enough to tell you to step off when they think you're wrong. They're not fighting for you in some desperate hope of getting you to love them -- they're fighting with you because they know you love them, and would do anything to protect them.
The first brilliant thing about what happens next is the kids: Erio and Caro jump straight down Scagglietti's throat (metaphorically) and kick his arse (verbally), but without any blind, tearful declarations of devotion. These children are mature beyond their years, they see their beloved adoptive mother's virtues and flaws clearly, they have no illusions about her... and Scaggie is lucky beyond all deserving that he merely had Fate to deal with, and not her kids. I don't think Erio and Caro would have killed him, but they certainly would have exercised their right to maim severely for what he said to Fate (not for kicking her around, Fate's tough and all's fair in love and ware, natch -- but what he said to her, putting that look in her eyes... yes, Scaggie is bloody fortunate).
The second brilliant thing is that, while E&C's enraged but reasoned defense of her kicks Fate out of her emotional paralysis, it doesn't miraculously fix her problems, and she acknowledges that. And yet, it's still obvious that she's taken an important step towards eventually settling this issue.
Fate's "stripped down" battle mode? HAWT.
...does this make Fate a MILF?
I really thought we were gonna lose Tea, there. And even she's trying to salvage 9, instead of just pounding her flat.
Snipers, yay!
And I can't help but snicker over her de*****ion of Subaru.
Speaking of whom, I thought I saw her blow a hole clear though Ginga last episode. Which I was sure she'd survive, but she sure looks more intact now than I'd expected.
...oh, CRAP. Scagglietti said he'd implanted... oh, okay, he said all twelve, not all thirteen. Whew! Poor Ginga, that would have been... .
Tea is SCARY when she switches to I-could-kill-you-right-here-but-I-don't-have-to mode.
Well, last ep was mostly Tea&Subaru, this ep was mostly Fate&her kids. Looks like next ep will be the big Nanoha&Vivio dustup, and Nanoha's looking to already be behind on points, not to mention fighting under a handicap.
...no sign of Vita this episode at all. I'm nervous.
But it was WORTH it. Now I just have to wait for the next episode...
Spoilers white-protected:
Well, well, well. Ginga&Subaru's mother, as well as Lu's mother, were members of Zest's team. And now we know how Cinque lost her eye (I'd had a theory before connecting Cinque to the girl whose eye Vice shot out, but that got shot down in Ep23).
This probably also explains why Zest and Lu were only partially under Scagliatti's control, and why Zest stuck to her so much; he was taking care of his teammate's orphaned daughter.
Never thought I'd feel sorry for Regius, but I do, a little. Each one of the little steps down this path probably seemed right, or at least justifiable, at the time, but it's only now that he looks at the whole emergent pattern and realizes just what he's done.
And, in a twist that violates the usual Laws of Drama, he not only doesn't get a chance to atone, he doesn't even get a chance to apologize.
Poor Lu. Quattro-who-deserves-to-die-slowly cranked that Insecurity Logic Bomb in Lu's head up to 11 and let it run. Caro keeps trying to reach her, and Erio keeps trying to reach Garyuu soldier-to-soldier. But Lu's too lost in her own pain to do anything but lash out blindly, and her summons are too loyal to disobey even for her own good (though I note that with Lu comatose they had enough flexibility to back off).
Fate needs to give her "daddy" what Raven gave to Trigon in that episode of Teen Titans. You've got a lot of gall, calling yourself her 'father', Scagliatti.
OTOH, he can twist her deepest insecurities almost as well as Precia did.
I've felt sorry for (at least some) of the CCs for a while now, but THIS is just... oy. And it's going to make for one bloody heck of a moral dilemma once the dust settles -- if each CC is carrying a memory-copied clone of Scagliatti, what happens to the chibi-Scaggies when they're born (it seems a safe bet that at least some of the CCs would refuse abortions, regardless of how things fall out)? I mean, just how 'hard'-coded are these transferred memories?
Every season seems to bring Fate face-to with her deepest demons. S1 had Precia rejecting her utterly, S2 gave her a chance at a fantasy life with everything she wanted most, and now Scaggliatti unearths her greatest fear: that she is no different from Precia, that she's just been using Erio and Caro to satisfy her own deep-seated need for love. Fate, hon, we all use the people we love to satisfy our emotional needs -- it's part of being human. But Precia just took from you, and gave nothing back. You've given to these kids, and while they love you as much as you loved Precia, you also made them strong enough to tell you to step off when they think you're wrong. They're not fighting for you in some desperate hope of getting you to love them -- they're fighting with you because they know you love them, and would do anything to protect them.
The first brilliant thing about what happens next is the kids: Erio and Caro jump straight down Scagglietti's throat (metaphorically) and kick his arse (verbally), but without any blind, tearful declarations of devotion. These children are mature beyond their years, they see their beloved adoptive mother's virtues and flaws clearly, they have no illusions about her... and Scaggie is lucky beyond all deserving that he merely had Fate to deal with, and not her kids. I don't think Erio and Caro would have killed him, but they certainly would have exercised their right to maim severely for what he said to Fate (not for kicking her around, Fate's tough and all's fair in love and ware, natch -- but what he said to her, putting that look in her eyes... yes, Scaggie is bloody fortunate).
The second brilliant thing is that, while E&C's enraged but reasoned defense of her kicks Fate out of her emotional paralysis, it doesn't miraculously fix her problems, and she acknowledges that. And yet, it's still obvious that she's taken an important step towards eventually settling this issue.
Fate's "stripped down" battle mode? HAWT.
...does this make Fate a MILF?
I really thought we were gonna lose Tea, there. And even she's trying to salvage 9, instead of just pounding her flat.
Snipers, yay!
And I can't help but snicker over her de*****ion of Subaru.
Speaking of whom, I thought I saw her blow a hole clear though Ginga last episode. Which I was sure she'd survive, but she sure looks more intact now than I'd expected.
...oh, CRAP. Scagglietti said he'd implanted... oh, okay, he said all twelve, not all thirteen. Whew! Poor Ginga, that would have been... .
Tea is SCARY when she switches to I-could-kill-you-right-here-but-I-don't-have-to mode.
Well, last ep was mostly Tea&Subaru, this ep was mostly Fate&her kids. Looks like next ep will be the big Nanoha&Vivio dustup, and Nanoha's looking to already be behind on points, not to mention fighting under a handicap.
...no sign of Vita this episode at all. I'm nervous.