Sep3
Aldnoah.Zero – 09
He’s on Cloud 9
On this week’s mini-talk, Jrow & Fosh talk simulations that Rayet & Marito go through, what has caused Saazbaum to want to assassinate Asseylum and just why the heck Rayet did what she did at the end.
——————————————
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:44 — 19.2MB)
Extra Blah Blah
“My head’s not on the menu, Slaine”
<caption this yawner of a pic>
Here we go again with the “is the princess dead?” talk…
Good job by Rayet on the strategic censorship even as the ship crashes to the ground
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
The Martian Cataphract in Marito’s flashback is the Deucalion. We were told last episode that it was heavily damaged in Heaven’s Fall and its Aldnoah drive was salvaged and put into the flying ship. We can also infer that the original Deucalion was piloted by Saazbaum’s “beloved,” whose death he mentioned to Slaine as one of his motivations. This is the big connection here.
As for Asseylum, the main argument for her being dead is the Aldnoah drive powering down after the shower incident. It’s unlikely that just being unconscious would result in the drive failing as this would mean Asseylum couldn’t sleep for a single moment while the ship was in flight. So I am pretty sure she was clinically dead.
Yes, it should have taken much longer than that to kill her rather than just render her unconscious. But almost all other fiction has the same misconception so I assume the same holds for a/z. That said, assuming help arrives soon enough, Asseylum can still be resuscitated. And she will be, because she’s far too important at this point to be killed off permanently.
My favorite theory is that Inaho will administer CPR as a parallel to her own rescue of Slaine. Then she will wake up lip-locked, mistaking him for Slaine for a moment. Not sure where the show would go from there, but if it wants to use even more tropes it can throw in some amnesia for good measure. Or heck, maybe she’ll even lose her ability to use Aldnoah technology. Who knows?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
So how would you get Slaine in the ladies’ shower to be the first responder to not-quite-murdered princess? 😀 Or does Edelweiss find her, run out and grab him out of the corridor? Although I think she’s more likely to let Asseyleum die than allow her naked body to be seen by a Terran boy. 🙂
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Plot convenience, that’s how. I wouldn’t put it past a/z.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
The princess has an auto-rez feature just you wait! Fufufu
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
It would be an interesting twist if Saazbaum’s betrothed actually was the pilot of the Deucalion. I had though it was Gilzeria (Asseylum’s father), but having it be Orlene would be interesting. It also would make sense, since while Saaz seems to have disdain for the feudal system, he doesn’t seem to really care for the common man either. And since he calls Orlene his “betrothed” rather than simply his “fiancee”, I’m guessing she was from a prominent noble family/clan. So, she might have been a knight as well.
However, I think Cruhteo would probably have mentioned this earlier when they saw the Deucalion‘s remains, since Cruhteo and Saaz seemed to have been friends for a while. I think Cruhteo probably knew Orlene.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Any bets on us seeing emotion from Inaho when he hears that the princess has been found murdered in the shower? 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
I’m afraid you’ve killed her in your anger… 😛
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I’m not sure he’s capable of emotion. Isn’t there a medical condition where some people literally can’t feel emotions? He seems to be one of them. That or he can out-stoic a stoic.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I highly doubt it. He’s cool as ice but it’s a guarantee to get out of Slaine if he ever sees.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Maybe he will have a Shinji moment from End of Eva? Only cool kids will get that reference trolololol.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
kono ha hentai.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
The only time I can ever that that boy will really show emotion, is if Yuki is somehow killed. Asseylum, I doubt it.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Definitely agree with you on Yuki. Those two have a very strong relationship.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I can see that working. She’s the only family he’s got left. Probably got numb from other possible losses.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Caption contest:
Inaho: …and that is why I’m a stoic motherfosher.
Asseylum: *He’s so dreamy~*
Buns the maid: *Yawn* There sure haven’t been many attempts on your life lately, hime.
DUNDUNDUN
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
200/200 BEST CAPTION WIENAR
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Nice. The perfect opportunity is when their guard is down.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
What… Just… Happened? =o Princess can’t die right now, goddamit.
But what surprised me was the world map after Heaven’s Fall. The most shocking thing there is that the country I live, Brazil, was almost entirely destroyed. Actually, at least half the american continent disappeared from the map. Is there any explanation why America was fucked, and Europe is still whole?
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
“Is there any explanation why America was fucked, and Europe is still whole?”
Jealousy
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, what he said. There’s a pretty big undercurrent of inferiority complex with regards to the US and Canada in Japan. Heck, Obama was the bad guy in I.S. And let’s just wipe out South America, too. 🙂
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
But leave my country alone i.i
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
We hit them all. There will be no exceptions!!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I don’t think she would die that easily! I mean sure this is Urobutcher and all, but seriously I don’t think they would kill her this fast cause the earth forces kind of need her >.>
I think Flordia is gone as well LOL
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
It’s only because it’s Urobutcher that I’m this desperate. If it was any other director I would say “nah, she’s alive.”
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The fact Urobuchi is in charge of any production instills fear.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I think the whole point of Heaven’s Fall was really to get somehow get rid of or defang all of the world’s current superpowers and thus cause the Martians to have an even larger edge over Earth. It makes the Earth side seem even more hopeless, and it answers those pesky plot hole questions such as “Why did it land in New Orleans?” or “Why isn’t the US fighting back with a stronger response?”
If you look at the map in comparison with the real one. Almost every continents largest powers have been hit hard. The US lost probably their top 20 most populated cities and along with the capital, and probably most of their armed forces. The US pretty much got neutered in one attack. Australia, the same thing. Europe looks like it hasn’t been hit that bad, but if you look at a comparison map, England lost London and many of the land that’s along it’s coast, Ireland has shrunk, Portugal is gone and Spain has lost some. The inner areas like Germany and France look okay, but they’re not going to do much without help. The Nordic countries got hit the hardest and lost a lot, and the Baltic countries are gone. In Asia, India got pretty hard, China lost a lot of coastline, including it’s largest city of Shanghai. North Korea has (conveniently) been taken completely off the map. (South Korea survived). Africa lost many of the countries on the east and northeast side. Most of Central America and a lot of Mexico is gone. Canada’s north face was hit pretty hard and a lot on the shores. And South America was hit pretty hard in some of it’s biggest countries (Brazil, Chile, Peru, etc.)
It basically shows how weak the Earth has become after Heaven’s Fall, and you can’t even guess how much it cost and how much it took to rebuild and get everyone back on their feet. And event like this could bankrupt a country. And now that the Earth is again at war and getting hit with the equivalent of 26 atomic bombs every time one of these castles lands, and that’s not counting the meteor bombardment that the knights throw down at will. It’s amazing that the Earth is still in one piece!
I wonder how they expect to take our resources when they are blowing the crap out of everything?!
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
That’s really hard to see… But it’s a good point.
If the martians were to win, they would probably rebuild their empire above the terran’s remains.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That reminded me of one of General Zod’s quotes from “Man of Steel”. Zod to Jor-El: “I will harvest the Codex from your son’s corpse and build a new Krypton atop his bones”.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
It makes me glad to live in Kentucky. Nothing. And I mean nothing interesting ever happens here.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
What are you talking about? Kentucky is famous for being the place where people wear funny hats and watch animals run around in circles. #KentuckyPride
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…and the hammering and the plastering neasr said circle…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*Aims microwave transmitter beam at all the chicken coops there*
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
W….T…..F! Did Rayet just do what I think she did?!
This was a great episode dealing with characters and their development. We find out so much about Saazbaum, Marito, Inaho and Rayet in this episode that I’m amazed.
So, let’s take this one at a time and I’ll go with Rayet last….
Saazbaum, well, the guy went beyond all of our expectations and turns out to not only not try to manipulate Slaine (at least for now), but instead tells him outright that he’s the one that planned Asseylum’s assassination. He basically states that he owes his life to Dr. Troyard who saved him when he was a scout on Earth during Heaven’s Fall, and through some really twisted ideas born through revenge, he caused the war in order to get vengeance on both the Earth and Mars. Mars’ culture is on the brink and they live on practically nothing (krill? really?), and he’s angry that the Earth has so many resources to squander and that they should make the Earth’s resources their own. However, he finds Vers’ feudal system to be horrid and wishes to take it down by killing the royal family. Or at least, I think he is, because he also seems to want to use the feudal system as it suits him, as well?
We also find that the spark for all this, was the death of his fiancee Orlene, who died during Heaven’s Fall.
This is very interesting information and shows that our villain has some depths. He’s like a more mature, adult Suzaku, trying to take down a monster nation from within, but with much more violent aims. We’ll have to see how Slaine takes this resolve later on. However, as crafty as Saazbaum is, we’ll have to wait and see if he’s telling the truth.
Next we have Marito, who we know has been suffering from violent PTSD. We find out what happened that day, as his doctor friend tries to treat him by recreating the incident using a simulation. We see kataphrackt Deucelion come and tear apart the tank forces on Tanegashima, and that it basically just decimated them all by simply “throwing the tanks every which way” and again having an impervious shield and the ability to float. Marito’s tank driver had been in the tank’s bowels when they were thrown and got pinned. The tank caught fire, and it was rather horrifying to see the man be consumed by the flames. You can see why Marito is so traumatized by seeing his friend burn alive right next to him. His friend begs him to shoot him and end it, to which Marito does. So, we were right that it was a mercy killing, but it doesn’t lessen the guilt. But Darzana is wrong to say it was “murder”. However, now that he has had a chance to relive it, hopefully, he can begin to heal and overcome it.
Inaho didn’t really have many lines, but we actually get quite a bit of development for him from his sister. Not only do we find that of course, his friends can’t really understand and figure out his deadpan tone and face, but they do notice it’s there. However, Yuki being his sister, notices the minute changes in his face and knows all his emotions. She’s the one that confirms that Inaho actually does have a thing for Asseylum, to Inko’s dismay (also conformation that Inko has a crush on Inaho too). Yuki also points out that Rayet likes Inaho too from the look on her face, and so it has been confirmed that Inaho now has a small harem.
And now, we can get to Rayet….poor Rayet.
Rayet’s been having a pretty hard time. She tries to be strong, but the guilt from hiding who she is and what her father and her group tried to do, is eating her up inside. She’s still pretty traumatized from the incident with Nilokeras (Really Yuki? You would give that kind of simulation to a girl you know was running for her life from said mech not that long ago? Come on, you should know better.), and she’s angry and confused at the princess who is able to be so calm about her situation and not afraid to reveal her origins, where as Rayet is terrified to. And it some point, something in her snaps. Her mental psyche must have been a lot more fragile that I thought. For in a moment of silent psycho rage, Rayet finishes(?) what her father and compatriots tried to do, and she murders Asseylum.
If the theory that the Aldnoah drives are connected to the life force of the activator is true and that Cruhteo is dead, than Asseylum is now dead also. And that’s not something I would have seen coming so suddenly out of nowhere. I thought she would be killed in battle, but to actually be strangled in a shower?! Never popped into my mind.
Now, is Asseylum dead? All indicators point to that. However, she could also be simply unconscious through oxygen deprivation. In ligature strangulation, the carotid arteries jugular veins get cut off and the brain loosed blood and with it oxygen. The brain automatically thinks that the heart has stopped and you quickly loose consciousness in seconds. The amount of seconds depends on how skilled the attacker is and if a person is standing, sitting, or lying down. If a person isn’t given oxygen and revived immediately, they will die in a matter of minutes, but not before irreparable brain damage. 🙁
So, is she alive or unconscious? Her being unconscious supports my theory that the lights of Cruhteo’s ship went out because he was knocked out or injured and not because he was killed. We’ll have to see next time.
However, whatever it is, this does not look good for Rayet, who as a Martian and now has at least attempted murder, if not murder itself, I just can’t see Rayet coming out of this show alive.
A really good episode, with a surprise I did not see coming. Also, we learn that more of the landing castles have touched down than we previously thought, with 26 now at least, rather than simply 19. That means that are, at most, 11 knights still in space. We do know that ALL of them haven’t come down, as seen by Saazbaum still being in orbit. The castles all landed in high populated areas, most of them in Europe and west Asia. The Deucalion crew is now over far west China/outer Mongolia, as indicated by the map.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
> Indeed! This was easily the best episode for character development instead of being all about mech vs mech action.
Yepp! I am glad we finally have an idea as to WHO was behind this whole mess and now we have to see what Slain does with that info and who he can reveal it too…
I used to not care as much for his story, but WOW his past is quite dramatic and I can totally see why he doesn’t just get over it…
Now, is Asseylum dead?
Nope, nope and NOOPPEEEE cause it would be silly to off her now cause the earth team NEEDS her in order to survive or do they?! With Inaho on board he seems to be the shield…and agreed if anything the princess was knocked unconscious.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
In a way, I kind of want her to be dead. It was a twist no one saw coming, and it would make things even more tricky plot-wise.
I mean, the Earth team could survive without her. They did before she ever revealed herself only a few episodes ago, so I think our plucky team might be a bit more resourceful.
However, we shall see.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Possibly! I mean I guess I could see it working, but at the same time it still feels a bit early for her to die maybe later and like Jrow said on the miniTALK we have played this game before about her dying in episode one! Yeah we shall see.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Oh, and an interesting tidbit. Rayet Areash and her father, Wolf, are actually named after the celestial phenomenon known as Wolf-Rayet Stars. They are some of, if not the, most massive and brightest stars currently known, and yet they lose their mass at an extremely fast rate, thanks to high solar winds. They do not last long and are quite rare. 🙁
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…swiftly burns the star…That does make me rather sad.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Also, here are my ideas/commentary as to why Rayet may have done what she did:
I’ve been actually reading a few blogs and they bring up some real interesting things regarding Rayet and why she’s gone down the dark path she has.
The thing is, just as Inaho and Slaine are foils, so are Asseylum and Rayet. Both are Martians, but one is royalty and the other a commoner. Both lost their fathers to war, both have been betrayed by their own people, and both have been harboring a secret about their identity in fear of discovery regarding their origins.
However, whereas Asseylum, despite being a Martian, has become friends with the crew and has been accepted, and is still calm, happy, and gracious about everything. Rayet is alone, isolated, haunted by her guilt and her thoughts. She is afraid to show herself and has hid behind a shield of hatred against her people. She never smiles, never laughs, she always skulks in corners. She has endured tragedy just as Asseylum has, somebody has tried to kill her, just like Asseylum, so why are they so different? Why can’t she have what Asseylum has?
This goes back to the whole theme of the episode, which was jealousy and envy, and where does that lead. Saazbaum brought this up on a nationwide scale when talking about how Martians are brought up to envy the Earth for what it has. This causes anger towards the Earth and a wish to have what they have. And all Vers needed was the right push, and they swarmed down to take what they envied by force.
This is show on a smaller, more individual scale by Rayet, who cannot understand why Asseylum gets everything, while she does not. Despite their similar backgrounds and circumstances, Asseylum has the life that Rayet doesn’t, and Rayet is jealous of that. She’s jealous of her. And in that shower, at the end of her rope, she suddenly hears the princess and her maid talking about how much easier the princess has had it, and just like that Rayet snaps. That “right push” causes Rayet to take, that which she envies–Asseylum’s life.
And when she’s done, she snaps out of it and finds that getting what she wanted, just made things worse. Now she’s going to be even more alone and isolated that before. She’s going to have to continue to hide and to lie. She can never find peace.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ohh totally Rayet is indeed jealous over what the princess has over her because it seems the people of earth are fine with her being a martian and what not while Rayet is fighting that idea or is confused as to why everyone accepts her so much.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The people of Earth are alright with the princess because she’s the one who wants to bring about peace. Her intentions are already clear.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Saazbaum’s justification made a bit less of an asshole. A bit. A lost lover is understandable to a degree. Still, nothing but insane to condemn an entire planet for views probably he only has.
Jealousy is an ugly thing. Rayet’s animosity towards Asseylum is greatly misplaced and branding all Martians as enemies is contradictory since she, herself, is one. She blames them for her father’s death. In retrospect, he kind of got his just desserts for playing a part in starting an unnecessary war reeling in an untold body count on both sides and she’s just as guilty. So, if she hates Martians that, she should also resent herself enough to commit suicide instead of going after the princess to quell her rage.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Hahah ya it is totally like OH MA GERD MY LOVER DIED TIME TO KILL EVERYONE ON EARTH cause REASONS!
Indeed it is clear that Rayet wants what the princess has as far as being accepted by the earthlings, but she just doesn’t know how to be like the princess and this episode shows that her emotions got the best of her clouding her judgement which pushed her to the edge! I certainly hope that she doesn’t take her own life =/
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The wing-nut is about ready to redefine the word “self-righteous”.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I think that bit of self-loathing is what also led to her mental breakdown. She hates Martians and all Martians are the enemy. This is the hate that drives her. However, within all that hate, she is faced with the fact that this means that she must also hate herself, that she must also hate her beloved father (who she actually addressed with the honorific of “-sama”, so her respect and admiration of him must have been pretty high) whose death sparked all of this.
Rayet has been one emotional mess for quite some time, and has never had time to properly grieve either. She keeps everything to herself and doesn’t allow any emotions out, She doesn’t make any friends and she is always alone. It’s a recipe of disaster.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Is that girl an idiot O_O I swear, in the levels of despair and shit situations this anime far exceeds Attack on titan O_O what are they gonna do now that the ship isn’t on the go anymore? O_O And I hope the princess won’t get revived again. Though she will -_-
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
She has to be alive, because we haven’t had that awesome part from the end of the OP, where Asseyleum pulls that pistol out on someone. That’s what I’m watching this whole show for.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’m betting she pulls that pistol out on Saazbaum.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
That was my guess when I mentioned it to the other writers, but apparently there are people who are trying to make the case that it’s going to be Slaine (to which I went “whuuuuut?”).
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Huh? I see no reason for that to transpire. It’s not like those two would betray each other. Not after how devoted they’ve acted to one another.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Really? For me, the level of despair and “bad to worse” situations on Attack on Titan were ever present. Here, it’s on and off since Inaho and the others actually manage to get a breather, even if it’s brief.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I shall ask now…
What is the Urobutcher count currently? Because anything less than 2 is poor.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Too many bodies have dropped. I lost count.