灼眼のシャナⅢ（Final）Episode 22
Shakugan no Shana III (Final) – 22

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Kazumi and company survive the Tomogara assault and crash into Seireiden, thanks to the Hyakki Yakou “Boss” casting an Unrestricted Spell of illusion, and Nbh’w protecting them, though it injured him greatly. After verifying that her “charges” (Pheles and Johann) were OK, the group finds itself being charged by Tomogara forces, as well as Dantalion’s bomb-robots. Nbh’w volunteers to stay behind and meet the hoard while the Hyakki Yakou whisk Kazumi to safety.  Before powering up, Nbh’w has final words for Kazumi. She sees the extent of his injury and fears he is going to be killed, but cannot stop him as the Hyakki Yakou race her away.

Yuuji is unhappy to see Kazumi in such danger, and attacks Shana. Sydonay wonders why the “Engaged Link” of Pheles and Johann aren’t fighting, as he defends himself and Yuuji from an assault from Margery. Shana, Margery, Alastor, and Marchosias tell Wilhelmina to go help her friends, Engaged Link. She hesitates, but then does as they ask.  With that, Shana and Margery prepare to battle Yuuji and Sydonay. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina comes to terms with herself and her role, causing Tiamat to open up to her and speak in complete sentences, as the two strengthen their ties.

Meanwhile, the Hyakki Yakou Boss creates illusions for the Tomogara forces to attack, but they are being taken out quick. Nbh’w does what he can to help divert attention from them, but it isn’t enough. Since they are close to an entrance to the Seireiden tower, the Hyakki Yakou Driver sneaks his way in and opens the door, while Boss creates a final illusion as they go invisible to the door. However, the illusion is destroyed, causing the invisibility to be lost. The Tomogara start an attack, but Wilhelmina saves the Hyakki Yakou and Kazumi.  Kazumi reveals the Hougu were Pheles and Johann are. Wilhelmina gives them cover as they race into the Seireiden tower, vowing to keep them safe.

Chiaia and Sāle are destroying Dantalion’s robot-bomb-warriors, causing Mammon to get more involved. Dantalion unleashes a ton of missiles at the two Flame Haze, which Chiaia attempts to counter, but the sheer force of the explosions cause Sāle to get knocked off Chiaia’s flying energy arrow. Chiaia attempts to save him, but Mammon has been waiting for this moment to launch a new attack, preventing Chiaia from saving Sāle, while causing him to fall into a robot-warrior-bomb. Dantalion gleefully activates the bomb, but Sāle uses an unrestricted spell to force the bomb up to Dantalion’s command platform. Dantalion attempts to flee, but the Hyakki Yakou have deactivated his escape mechanism, apparently killing him and Domino.

Mammon is incensed that his and Dantalion’s attack were turned against them and goes to attack, only to be fatally injured by Chiaia. Pirsoyn prevents Chiaia from killing Mammon, but Mammon knows he’s dying and asks Pirsoyn to leave since all of the robot warriors are about to have their implosion bombs go off. As such, Mammon draws all of the robots near Seireiden to him, thus protecting the tower at his own life. However, the robots near Nbh’w go off, apparently killing the Flame Haze. Having lost two important members of Bal Masqué, Yuuji has Bel Peol activate the backup plan to purge Shana’s tampering with his world. However, Hecate reports that she still feels ill, leading Margery to tell the shocked Bal Masqué leaders that she placed the same law preventing the consumption of humans into their backup system while they were distracted by the various Flame Haze attacks.

Thoughts/Review:

Great day in the morning.  There was a ton of stuff that happened here.

As I thought, the Hougu that Rofocale saw contained Pheles and Johann.  So, is this some new version of the Reiji Maigo?  Either way, whatever they are doing seems pretty important and might be a new world for the Tomogara to live in where they wouldn’t need human lives for energy.

Whoa! Tiamat has actual dialog!  I’ve always loved her four-syllable, monotone way of speaking, so it was neat hearing her actually speak, even if in the same, old Japanese style of speaking. Since Shana and Alastor were so keen on sending Wilhelmina to “Engaged Link,” I have to think that whatever Pheles and Johann are planning is part of Shanna’s plan.

Since Mammon’s entry was a late one, his death doesn’t have any impact on me, though he is a true believer in the Bal Masqué cause.

On the other hand, Dantalion’s apparent death means the comic relief nut job is gone, and he’s been around since the first series. Its just another sign of the anime coming to an end.

Also on the apparent death front, Nbh’w is seemingly dead. He too has been around since the first series, and though he wasn’t a major player like Margery Daw became, I’m sad to see him go, if he’s truly dead.

So, Shana infects the system, and the best way to remove the infection is to restore from a backup.  Totally awesome that Margery had infected the backup, so that Bal Masqué ended up reinforcing the very rule against consuming humans that they tried to prevent. I love it.

Well, only two more episodes to resolve everything, and for Yuuji and Shana to reconcile, assuming that’s part of the plan. I’m looking forward to see how it all comes off.