Kirito
and Leafa have made it to the meeting and Kirito’s bluff as an
ambassador has been called out. If he can survive in a fight against
the Salamanders General Eugene, his plan to prevent a war might work.
(Source: Crunchyroll)
Spoiler
warning: Post contains spoilers up to episode 20, "General of
the Blazing Flame".
Well,
they did it. They dedicated an entire episode to a subplot I simply
do not
care about: the Salamanders. I know I should, but it's just not
compelling enough for me. Especially when this great subplot about
Kirito and Leafa and Asuna is also right there, waiting to take the
spotlight again.
I'm sure the Salamanders' plot will end up playing
into the endgame but at this point, it's putting me to sleep.
In
this episode: Kirito fights Eugene and shows everyone how awesome he
is. Is this series a shonen? Because Kirito is powering up at the
rate of a standard shonen hero. It doesn't matter that he's in a
different video game because he's just awesome and everything always
works out in the end for him. Hell yeah, Kirito!
And
to be honest, the Kirito/Eugene fight was largely uneventful except
for the revelation that Kirito's duel wielding skill apparently
transferred into Alfheim/ALO and this is the skill he uses to whoop
Eugene's bottom. Naturally, he needs Leafa's sword to do it, who
isn't particularly disturbed by Kirito snatching her blade in the
middle of a fight. Although I'm surprised his dual wielding isn't
cause for alarm or anything, since it can't be a common skill set in
ALO.
Anyway,
Kirito is perfect, he wins the fight as he does, and Eugene slinks
away after threatening to come back later. This is when Sakuya, the
leader of the Sylphs, confronts Sigure, who has been the mole the
entire time and helped lead both Sylphs and Cait Siths into a trap.
It was pretty cool to see Sakuya expose Sigure as the turncoat he is
and pretty much strip him of everything that makes him important,
doomed to wander with no group affiliation and no allies. Considering
he's no longer useful to the Salamanders, I doubt they'll take him
in, either.
It
was nice seeing other races in the game, although I wonder why
players would willingly dress in the exact same uniform. They looked
like NPCs, not real players. Even if the Sylphs and the Cait Siths
have mandatory uniform codes among their ranks, you can't stop your
average MMORPG player from adding their own touch of flair to their
outfits, whether it's an extra accessory or a particular color
scheme, especially in a game like ALO where customization is more
in-depth than your standard video game.
Anyone
else wonder how much time has passed in the real world while Leafa
and Kirito fought off the Salamander invaders? It's a good thing
Leafa's mother isn't around, or she'd be wondering why her wards
spend so much of their nights jacked into their Nerve Gear. Sword Art
Online is yet another anime where adults are conveniently absent from
the story so the teen characters can advance plot without
consequence.
The
most important part of the episode was Asuna using the door code she
had memorized to escape her cage. Seriously, y'all, did anyone think
Asuna was just going to wait for Kirito to come in? I can see Kirito
and Leafa making their way to the base of the World Tree only to meet
Asuna on her way down. It would be so very Chrono Trigger of this
show.
I
know this episode was necessary to speed up plot concerning the
Salamanders, but I wish it had been more interesting. At least with
Asuna's break out, we can go back to the main focus of this ALO arc:
save the cheerleader
fairy princess, save the world. Don't let me down, Kirito.
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