As expected, a lot of big things are revealed now that we’re in the final stretch. The biggest one was that Hei didn’t have Contractor powers going into South America, but Bai did. Since Hei doesn’t know what happened back then, we can probably conclude that Amber’s plan involved using Bai’s power, and that Hei inherited that power somehow. That would be why Amber needs him now. Incidentally, Bai’s price appears to have been sleeping, but we know that Hei didn’t inherit that too. Perhaps the loss of his sister was the price he paid for it.Hei’s other interaction with Bai this episode were a bit more confusing for me. When he put his hand around her neck, I thought he was going to strangle her or something, but it wasn’t clear what his motivation was. It could be connected with how he told Misaki that he might have been relieved about Bai being gone. Maybe it’s because he didn’t like or want his sister being a weapon to kill people. I could see a possible scenario where Hei wanted to protect his sister by ridding her of her power, and somehow in the process getting that power himself. That might explain why he was crying after Bai had pointed out all the falling stars (signaling all the dying Contractors).
Overall though, this episode progressed a little slower than I would have liked it to (too much talking and not enough doing), though I did rather enjoy the entire Misaki and Hei scene. Those two would make a great couple, but I don’t think it’s likely to happen since I suspect Hei will die at the end. The Kurosawa Gai and Kiko stuff was probably the part that was needed the least, but you could argue that it gave a look into how peoples’ lives were affected by the stars, which I guess is one of the themes of this series. I just hope that the final two episodes don’t have too many huge stretches of dialogue that could kill any momentum they’re building. Anyway, it looks like we’ll find out next week what Eric’s plan and Amber’s plan really involve, and the old Stargazer lady is already saying in the preview that this is the beginning of the end.
It was sad to see November 11 die - I thought the blood extinguishing the cigarette was a nice touch - but it was made all that much more important because it highlighted both how Amber appears to have seen the future (probably related to her Contractor power), and how Decade didn’t want him to find out what the Organization was doing. Actually, what the Organization is trying to do and what Pandora already is doing (in regard to what Eric Nishijima said about the experiment already having been restarted) makes me think that the two are connected at some level, and they could very well share the same leadership - mainly Eric Nishijima. In any case, this all confirms my suspicion that Pandora and the Organization are the sinister antagonists and that Amber is actually trying to do good, at least in terms of preserving Contractor lives.
With Amber being good though, it seems that Hei’s turning more to the dark side. His anger and hatred for her makes it seem like he’ll try to ruin her plan (which requires all those Dolls) or try to kill her or something before she ultimately redeems him in some way. Or maybe it’ll be his sister who redeems him. I had actually forgotten about Bai until she called out to her brother suddenly during this episode, and it’ll be interesting to see how she fits into all this when she appears again. If Hei’s power is special in how it causes the Meteor Fragment to react, maybe Bai had something special about her too that factored into Amber’s plan five years ago. I assume that Hei already was a part of her plan whether he knew about it or not, though not knowing could very well be what led him to feel betrayed.
Those events five years ago look to be what next episode is about, and it’ll be the first one that’s not one half of a two-parter. We’re at the final three episodes now, and I’ll be pretty happy if they can maintain the level of storytelling and action that this episode had. The one thing I’m really hoping for is that Misaki will be able to play an important role instead of standing on the sidelines or arriving on the scene too late like she did for a lot of this episode.
Well that was pretty good episode. I thought that parts of the first half were a little long-winded (like Misaki’s conversation with Hourai), but things really started getting interesting when November 11 talked to Misaki. The part where he says that there are no enemies or allies from this point on and that she should trust her instinct is of particular note because of how he wants to see Amber at the end of the episode. That coupled with him wearing a black suit in the preview makes me think that he might just join Amber’s side and further blur the lines between the good guys and the bad guys.
That being said, I don’t think of Amber as the antagonist of the story anymore. I may be being fooled by her child-like behavior, but it just seems like she can’t be more evil/sinister than either Pandora or the Organization that Hei is a part of. We still don’t know the true goals of each group (though I have some vague ideas that Amber might want Schroeder’s research to get rid of the Hell’s Gate), so there’s probably a lot more we haven’t been told that could change or strengthen this perception of her. On a side note, Amber surprising Mao at the end of the episode was one of my favorite parts of the episode since it made me laugh with the priceless expression on Mao’s face.
Next episode looks like it’ll put into play pretty much the entire cast, which gets me excited since it seems to show things finally getting into high gear. Incidentally, this is also the final two-episode arc as denoted by episode titles, so the final three episodes 23 through 25 will probably one big arc to finish the series.
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