Woah, I was not expecting the show to take that dark/violent a turn. I’m glad we got some actual losses rather than a cliffhanger fake out though. Chakuro’s repeated denial over Sami’s obviously dead body... poor baby.

Loved seeing best boy Ouni actually give his people a chance after hearing back in ep 1 or so how he has the strongest thymia on the ship. And nice to see him actually willing to kill them rather than go the pacifist route. Brave, smart (loved the tidbit about using the soldiers to get intel), caring (medicine for his friends of course), loyal and independent. What’s not to love <3

I didn’t mind psycho Lion, though he stood out a bit amongst everyone else. Interesting how it seemed like he was judging Lykos’ big bro for abandoning her as a guinea pig? Can’t wait to find out more about the relationship between the two societies.

Loved Suoh‘s uncertainty as he had to unexpectedly rise to fill Taisha’s role—first going with nonviolent peace talks or “parley” and asking himself if that’s what Taisha would do, then covering his mouth sick watching Ouni slice down a whole gaggle of soldiers: “Taisha-sama, is this for the best?”

Watching the peaceful, obedient villagers get gunned down out was hard and a bit jarring as it’s so different than usual scenes like this we see. No army of any note, no defense, just shot down like sitting ducks. More like a massacre for funsies than anything else. I think the pacing and soldiers’ odd behavior made a little more sense after the reveal that they were just there to get the ship back rather than actually exterminate them.

Glad to see more hints of Lykos’ independent personality than she originally let on (maybe already seeing effects from being away from that nous blob?). Music and background art in this show was gorgeous as ever, one of my favorite soundtracks this season.