灼眼のシャナⅢ（Final）
Shakugan no Shana III (Final) – 06

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

As Shana ponders her situation on Seireiden, Satou is frustrated by the fact that he’s been held prisoner for a week at the Outlaw facility, having given up his cell phone and Margery’s bookmark artifact at the request of the Flame Haze that met him. Hearing voices outside speaking of Wilhelmina, Satou pounds on the door of his room and is told to get away from the door. Moments later, the Flame Haze Rebecca Reed blows away the door and enters along with the male Flame Haze that met Satou a week earlier, Frieder. Rebecca introduces herself and her Crimson Lord partner, Balar, before having a little chat with Satou and having him taken to a medical ward to treat his injuries but leaving him locked up there to attend a meeting.

Rebecca remembers an outing in the desert with Wilhelmina where the later saved her life when a Rinne insect attacked while Wilhelmina prepares to go alone to rescue Shana since she has no help from Tokyo or Zurich Outlaw. Sophie receives a visit from Flame Haze Samuel Demantius and his Crimson Lord Zirnitra as Rebecca receives orders to take command of the Tokyo HQ along with Wilhelmina since it is believed to be the next target of Bal Masqué. Rebecca is annoyed with Frieder’s logic and decides to help Wilhelmina anyway.

Rebecca busts Satou out of the medical facility and provides him with Wilhelmina’s reports as well as the battle plans for the Flame Haze, to take back with him. Frieder and Brigid report Rebecca’s actions to Sophie, who decides to give it a blind eye for now.  She sends a letter to Wilhelmina to notify her of the arrival of a Flame Haze with information and Rebecca sends word that she’ll be helping Wilhelmina rescue Shana. Wilhelmina is pleased by this turn of events. Meanwhile, Shana remembers her final talk with Shiro and understands that love is the most powerful unrestricted spell. However, as she emerges from a bath, loud noises outside her room cause her to investigate, where she finds Hecate has destroyed the Rinne humanoids assigned to Shana and is now going after Shana.

Thoughts/Review:

Last episode, we saw the war preparations from the side of the Tomogara.  This week, we see the preparations from the side of the Flame Haze.  However, if Sydonay was able to take out the Shanghai Outlaw HQ single-handedly and Outlaw’s have been being wiped out all along, what has changed? I guess the Flame Haze are all gathering together to defend themselves, thus becoming more than Sydonay could handle on his own.

Still, while that’s going on, Wilhelmina and Rebecca get to do an assault on Seireiden. I know Wilhelmina is powerful and the implications are that Rebecca is also powerful. However, two Flame Haze going into the heart of Bal Masqué’s stronghold on Seireiden seems dubious at best. I’m guessing they’ll succeed ’cause we need Shana back in the action, but at what price?

Also, while I’m thinking of it, what was Sophie referring to after Ernest reported Rebecca’s going rogue to help Wilhelmina? Or rather, whom was she speaking to? Her Crimson Lord? Someone else?  Maybe I’m just looking too hard for betrayal.

I actually thought that the explosion-type noises that Shana heard were from Rebecca making an assault to rescue Shana. Man, I was surprised to see Hecate there, especially after I’d remarked that she wasn’t like Sydonay nor Bel Peol in wondering about Yuuji as their leader. Guess she has her doubts too.

We were introduced to several new Flame Haze this episode as well as their Crimson Lord partners. The one new Crimson Lord that stood out was Brigid, who has the form of a rose on Ernest’s lapel and speaks with a timid, female voice.  I feel sorry for her and she certainly doesn’t have the mannerism of a Crimson Lord that we’ve come to expect.

I wonder why the Flame Haze held Satou captive for a week.  They knew whom he was and were expecting him, so why lock him up, even if in a nice room?

So, I guess it is time to bust Shana out of her own prison and then move on to this war that’s brewing.  Looking forward to the next episode.