OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

It’s been a bit since Seth agreed to help Ocoho, but he’s started to have strange dreams about the castle he’s sleeping in. Almost as if he’s been there before. He’s also been checking up on Melie…from a distance, since he can’t think of what to say to her after their last conversation. As he tells all of this to Alma via magical communication, he spots Mordred kiss Ocoho on the cheek. But instead of getting embarrassed or excited or ANY sort of reaction, she suddenly goes silent and gains star markings on her eyes.

After an attempted trip to the archives goes predictably poorly, Seth rushes in and uses what he saw in his dreams to enter a secret path. This soon takes him to an inner chamber with a glowing white orb in the center, as well as a giant clear cage containing a Nemesis. Specifically, the Spectral Nemesis that the Knight-Sorcerers fought, only in regular form. Seth is quickly spotted by a man next to the orb, who is blind but identifies Seth’s attributes with his magic, including his horns. But this makes him think Seth is actually Piodon, which causes the man to go into a panic. Naturally Seth has some questions after this, but is imprisoned next to the Nemesis, who is released and attacks him with a poisoning strike.

Out in the fields, the farmers get an awful sight of the two new Spectral Nemesis…one of which just so happens to look like Seth. This news soon gets to the Baron Merchants, Dragunov and Lieselotte, and the Knight-Sorcerers. Melie is amongst students there to observe the operation, though Sagramore and another knight have gone missing, so now Mordred is the only one left who’s defeated a Spectral Nemesis. Because of this, Ocoho becomes Mordred’s new partner, much to his dismay. But soon they’re up in the air, but Melie and Ocoho soon recognize the new Nemesis as Seth.

OUR TAKE

The next phase of the story arc begins by laying out several pressing questions and mysteries. On top of dealing with trying to reconcile things with Melie and Doc, Seth’s sealed memories re-enter the story, showing that he seems to have some familiarity with Caislean Merlin. That knowledge gets him out of a quick chase, but also leads him to uncovering what could be the truth about where the Spectral Nemeses have come from: some sort of Wizard of Oz style projector turning one regular (though still dangerous) Nemesis into an unstoppable colossus. This does actually explain why Fantasia attacks didn’t effect it, seeing as it wasn’t even there. But this raises a new series of questions, first and foremost being who set up this ruse and why. It doesn’t seem like the bandaged guy played by Johnny Yong Bosch is the one orchestrating things, so who else could be involved?

There are quite a few likely suspects, but the one that springs to mind first would be Mordred. First of all, he and Sagramore have become major hits in the city for their work fighting against Spectral Nemeses, despite only being trainees. It’s possible he (assuming it was just him) helped put this deception together in order to boost his and his friend’s credibility, though that’s just conjecture for now. He did seem more surprised by there being TWO Nemeses reported AND seems very protective of Ocoho, who has been a friend of both him and Sagramore since they were children. And then there’s the odd kiss Seth spotted that hypnotized her, which was suspiciously close to a scene of townspeople discussing the Dulahan. We haven’t quite worked out how that thing fits into all of this, but there’s certainly mounting evidence against Mordred. Could be all a misdirect for all we know now, but it’s a start.

However, while this episode does breathe life into the narrative by sending our minds racing with new mysteries to follow, I think the pacing let me down just a bit in the second half. Right around the moment where Seth is broadcast to the rest of the characters, it feels like things suddenly come to a screeching halt reacting to this, even though before it was going at a pretty quick tempo. That’s a minor thing in the grand scheme and hopefully won’t be an issue later on, but it was just noticeable enough that it kept what was a pretty cool uptick from sticking the landing, which is just a shame.

Score 7/10