Kirito
has figured out the how and now he has to figure out the why.
(Source: Crunchyroll)
Spoiler
warning: Review
contains spoilers for the sixth episode of Sword Art Online. Please,
no spoilers beyond the Toonami broadcast!
Crunchyroll,
congratulations. You couldn't have possibly give this episode a more
vague description. Still, Kirito is one hell of a detective, isn't
he? This week on SAO, Kirito is able to deduce some amazing
information from a disintegrating sandwich. Also, judging by the
thick text being laid down, everyone is gonna get married in this
game. Everyone!
At least this contrived murder mystery has finally
been put to rest. Ouch, sorry about the pun.
In
the previous episode, we had just watched Yoruko plunge to her death
after taking a dagger to the back. Thanks to some deep conversation
and good old fashioned bullshitting, Kirito and Asuna end up solving
the mystery of the death of Griselda. I'm sorry, was the original
mystery about Kains and Yoruko? Not so much, actually. Surprise,
surprise: they're both alive! Just one of the several seemingly
clever plot twists in this episode that, upon closer evaluation, are
rather simple in flavor.
Honestly,
the first half of this episode was very much an informational dump,
delivered by Kirito and assisted by Asuna and the remaining Golden
Apple guild members. Imagine the end of a Sherlock Holmes story when
Holmes explains how everything actually happened, except now imagine
Kirito in his long black coat delivering the same spiel, and at the
beginning of the story.
Thanks
to in-game logic and the durability aspect which is so handily
introduced by Asuna, the 'deaths' of Yoruko and Kains as well as
Schmit's role in Griselda's death are all hastily smoothed over so we
can get to the bigger matter at hand. Because as soon as Yoruko and
Kains confront Schmit and get the truth out of him, they're
confronted by actual player killers! Womp womp.
Naturally,
Kirito swoops in to save them, being the Black Swordsman and all.
Rather irritated by the second-string position Asuna has been sidled
into, especially considering she's second-in-command in her own very
powerful guild. Blah blah blah, Grimlock isn't the nice guy everyone
thought he was, blah blah blah, hired PKs to kill old guild members
just as he had them kill his wife, Griselda.
Yes,
in a sudden flip of roles, it is Grimlock who is exposed as the
catalyst behind this entire story arc, and it's not even for the very
item everyone had been stressing out about. Y'see, Grimlock and
Griselda were married in real life - and IRL Griselda was a quiet,
"submissive" woman who never fought with Grimlock. However,
in SAO, the strain of fighting for his life took a toll on Grimlock's
nerves, but Griselda actually thrived
under the pressure, became a stronger, more assertive person because
of it.
Naturally,
Mister Possessive Grimlock couldn't have that. The game had changed
his wife for the worse! In his mind, Griselda had to die, so he could
be left with the memory of what Griselda used to be: that nice,
obedient, quiet woman that he could control. And if you don't think
that Grimlock was possessive of Griselda in real life, ask yourself
why they would join together. I think she was coerced into joining
with Grimlock – being told that's just what married couples do –
so no one was more surprised than Grimlock to see her come out of her
shell while in the game.
Anyway,
the revelation of Grimlock's true self in front of his ex-Guild folks
has left him pretty much broken and shattered emotionally. The series
quickly writes him off as we watch Kains and Schmit carry him away;
one can only imagine the guild justice he is about to face at their
hands. A job well done, Asuna and Kirito head off for one last scene
together before going back to the front lines, which apparently
hasn't needed them for the last two days.
This
episode was a big wrap-up of all the questions raised in the previous
episode. We don't learn much new things about how Sword Art Online
works beyond the durability factor, and what else we learn is just
that 'safe spaces' can't be subverted by PKs as previously thought,
making towns and inns safe yet again. I was kind of hoping for a "no
one is safe, have fun trying to sleep" 'verse reset, if only for
the heightened "danger of being legit PK'd" factor, but no
such luck.
I
also thought Griselda's ghost was a hokey moment that didn't fit in
SAO, unless they are trying to establish that fragments and images of
players past linger in the server for a time after death. I wouldn't
put it past the game's creator Akihiko to taunt players with the
faces of comrades long gone; I could easily see Akihiko using the
face of Sachi to turn Kirito into a gibbering wreck all over again as
he gets closer to the top level.
There
was also a lot
of talk about marriage, both in the technical SAO sense and the
emotional human connection sense. It was so forced, it was painful -
and it all centered around Kirito and Asuna. Series, are y'all
setting up a marriage of convenience between them? Because I could
very much do without such a Harlequin romance plot device in my
MMORPG action story, thanks.
(Besides, I think Kirito is too upset
about losing his sandwich to get hitched. Son, don't lie, we all know
why you dropped to your knees over food.)
Next
week's episode, according to Wikipedia, is called "The
Temperature Of The Heart". Oh boy, here we go. Love triangle
powers, activate!
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