スレイヤーズREVOLUTION Anime episode 09

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

As Marquis Gioconda observes the mage-tanks construction being completed, she discusses the sale of these weapons with Duclis. Outside of her massive residence, Wiser, Flan, and Zollan arrive with their prisoners while Xellos teleports away. Once inside the compound, Lina is let out of the prison wagon along with the others. She decides to have a little bit of fun with the troops that have gathered by casting a Burst Rondo to scare the heck out of them. It succeeds, causing Wiser to get upset and whack her on the head. Wiser gives orders to have Lina and company sent to the prison cell while Lina taunts the soldiers.

Xellos and Wiser report to Marquis Gioconda, who wonders why they’ve brought Lina and the others to her as prisoners. Wiser begins to state his reasons, but Xellos interrupts, stating Lina’s true purpose in giving up — to infiltrate Gioconda’s estate and expose her plot, if there is one. Wiser denies this but Gioconda orders that Lina be beheaded. Wiser states that he cannot allow this to happen due to the orders he received from Ruvinagald. Apparently, his government is unsure about how good Gioconda’s mage-tanks are and would like them to be tested against Lina. Gioconda is frustrated, but agrees to Wiser’s request to help with sales.

Before leaving, Wiser asks Marquis Gioconda if she knows what happened to the medical supplies that had been destined for the doomed city of Taforashia, which had disappeared before arriving there. The marquis is offended by the statement, leading Wiser to apologize since his superiors put him up to the question. Upon leaving with Xellos, the mazoku notes that while he has a lot of secrets, he never lies. Wiser on the other hand lies with ease. Wiser plays dumb to Xellos’s commentary. Regardless, Xellos needs to have Wiser out of the way for a while and causes the floor beneath Wiser to open up, Wiser falling into the darkness below.

As Lina and company snooze waiting for Pokota, Ozel makes a surprise visit to them. She has a request of them, which surprises Lina seeing as how they are enemies. Being called an enemy flusters Ozel, who’s head then falls off. Thus she reveals herself to be a puppet to the shock of everyone. After Ozel gets her head back on, she requests that Lina find the vase that contains the soul of (Red Priest) Aka Houshi Rezo and destroy it. Gourry wonders how this can be if they killed Rezo previously. Lina and Zelgadiss seem to believe that it is possible since Rezo’s seal on Taforashia still stands. Rezo is dead but somehow his soul remained and is in the vase.

While their conversation is going on, Pokota manages to make it into the compound and down to the prison level. He manages to take out a guard and make it into the prison but is soon confronted by Duclis after causing an explosion. During a flashback, we see the male human child Pokota talking with the male human adult Duclis about things that are being planned by Pokota’s father for Taforashia, to include the legacy of Sairaag. Pokota is not happy with this but Duclis states that sometimes the wind changes. Back in the present, Pokota demands to know if Duclis has forgotten that their goal is to unseal Taforashia. Duclis claims he has not forgotten but implies the wind has changed.

Pokota and Duclis wield their “energy” swords (Duclis’s being red) and battle as Ozel leads Lina and company out of their cell after hearing the sounds of an explosion. As they head through a passageway, they are met by the assassin Zuuma, who tries to take out Lina. He easily counters Lina’s and Zelgadiss’s attacks and manages to get to Lina to strangle here. Despite not having a sword, Gourry manages to thwart the attempt and the group is on their way again. Ozel leads them to an underground coliseum, where it is clear that humans used to have to fight monsters to the death here in front of an audience.

Marquis Gioconda is in the stands with Xellos, wielding a large sword and she vows to end them right then and there. She jumps down into the arena while Zuuma approaches them from the rear. Because Gourry is without a sword, Lina summons a golum, who creates a heavy, stone sword for Gourry before being destroyed by Zuuma. Despite the massive weight of the sword, Gourry finds he is still able to thwart Gioconda’s attack. Deciding to leave her to Gourry, Lina, Zelgadiss, and Amelia square off against Zuuma, only to discover that Ozel has joined forces with Zuuma to complete her contract and thus must fight Lina and company.

Thoughts/Review:

I’m not to sure I cared for that “lightsaber” battle between Duclis and Pokota. That may have been a little tribute to Star Wars by the production staff, but it just felt weird to me.

While I wasn’t surprised to see that Pokota had been a human male child, I guess I was somewhat surprised that Duclis was also human. To be honest, I was thinking him to be similar to his novel character — a “natural-born” beast-man if you will. In my mind, Duclis could have still been a (tiger) beast-man and still served Taforashia but having both he and Pokota transformed into non-human creatures makes things a bit more interesting.

Ozel’s being a puppet was an interesting twist I didn’t expect. So, she frees Lina and the others, but then has to fight them in the end. Question is, if Ozel is a puppet, who’s the puppeteer? Why would they want the vase containing Rezo’s soul destroyed? How did Rezo’s soul get in there anyway, especially since he was supposedly killed after turning into the Dark Lord Ruby Eye Shabranigdu?

I have this feeling that before this story arc is completed, Gourry will be the owner of whatever sword Marquis Gioconda is wielding, especially if it is a magical sword as I suspect it is. Then again, Pokota may give Gourry a faux Sword of Light just so he can have one. That would be disappointing to me from the standpoint of how in the novels, Gourry has to obtain another magical sword.

Wiser showed himself to be quite devious, enough so that Xellos had to put him out of action for a while. It is interesting how Xellos points out that no matter what he does, he never lies while Wiser has no problem lying to get the results he wants.

While there were few laughs this episode, the current story appears to be coming to a head. I can’t say that it is a particularly strong story, but it is interesting and fun just the same.