The episode kicks things off with Kannawa being literally too scared to enter a store and shop for new outfits. Why? Because she doesn’t want to interact with any of its employees. Jesus, just tell them you’re just looking. In the end, Kamegawa has to fortuitously bump into his nervous wreck of a senpai (it’s a small world), and thus does the talking for her. This is some real “Um, she asked for no pickles” energy. Our hardass senpai’s getting progressively childish as the story unfolds.
When we last left off, Iana remembered that the duchess is the evil mastermind behind all the kidnapping. In fact, Amaryllis has gone mad, so she is also now a murderer. Basically, we have lives to save. But Iana can’t do this alone, so she predictably has to team up with Cheneau. You know how it goes. He has been at her throat for the past two episodes, so this antagonism makes their working relationship a little spicier. And in the aftermath, when he discovers that Iana has been innocent this whole time, he’ll finally bend the knee. They’re going to redeem Cheneau because he’s one of the bishies, but I don’t care because fuck this guy. Threatening to send anyone to their death without an ounce of evidence makes you scum. Forget the gallows. He doesn’t even have a reason to arrest her. What crime has she committed? The crime of running around the mansion and opening doors?
It’s finally time for Athanasia to debut herself. Our princess has done nothing but fret and worry over her big day, so it has to go well, right? Meanwhile, Duke What’s-his-face gives Jennette the impression that she’ll finally be able to connect with both her father and her sister at the ball. But it’s not her father nor her sister. I’m all for bashing Claude whenever he’s being a deadbeat, but I also gotta be fair when the time calls for it. And while I’ve been clamoring for Athanasia to make a female friend her age, this isn’t the right time for it. Most of all, this whole scheme feels ill-conceived right from the get-go. If Duke What’s-his-face really wanted to exert his influence over the emperor, why do it now during Athanasia’s debut? If you’re telling me I have a long lost sister, I wouldn’t want to meet her at a fancy-ass ball in front of a bunch of strangers. I’d want to meet her privately. Yeah, I know the same thing happened in the previous timeline, and it happened successfully. But the circumstances then were different. Claude didn’t adore that Athanasia. He adores this one. It seems kinda stupid to try and rob the spotlight from the person the emperor loves and cherishes the most. To put it in simpler terms, read the damn room.
When we last left off, it looked like the SSS was more than willing to sacrifice a school bus full of children just to send a message — just to maintain Ostania’s image of a strong, unflappable nation. But now that the second bus full of hostages have been found — thanks to the combined efforts of WISE and Yuri working his connections — we now learn that the SSS is not as unified as it seems. Yes, yes, what a shocker: it turns out not everyone wants to kill children.
