English Dub Review: Fairy gone “Parade of Demise”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
Golbarns funeral is about to take place, but the Eins Order just can’t leave well enough alone. While Ray Dawn and Dorothea are en route, they launch an attack, which leaves much of Dorothea’s forces wrapped up in a pointless battle. Free breaks off to take on Wolfran, while Marlya takes Ray Dawn to safety in the only safehouse the Order didn’t know about ahead of time.
Eventually, an attacker does locate them, but it isn’t the Order. Veronica makes her move and tries to get revenge on Ray Dawn for all the pain he’s caused. But once Ver realizes that Ray Dawn is still sure he did the right thing, she falters. With Marlya’s help, she abandons her goal of killing Ray Dawn in favor of a different path. But just when things seem to be turning around, Griff Mercer arrives to kidnap a fairy possessed individual. Ray Dawn sacrifices himself for the two Suna survivors and is his body is used to resurrect the Order’s prized fairy.
Our Take:
After almost two seasons of hatred, Ver has finally found peace about both Ray Dawn and her past. Parade of Demise is filled with twists and turns, but one thing that never changed is Marlya’s love for Ver. This week’s episode is a powerful statement of how her never-failing hope helps to change Ver’s mind and heart for the better. Even Ray Dawn himself got some nice characterization that helped propel this episode into one of the better ones of the show’s run so far.
Before we get into the Ver/Marlya/Ray Dawn stuff, let’s take a moment to appreciate how shameless the Eins Order is, interrupting a funeral for someone they were responsible for killing. We begin simply enough with Dorothea on their way to the event. But everything changes rapidly and descends into chaos once the Order unleashes their roadblocks. It’s fun and frightening to see just how well they’ve prepared for Dorothea’s every move. They’ve even enlisted good ol’ Beevee Liscar to fight. His battle with Director Nein is epic and one of the highlights of the episode for sure.
When it came time for Ver and Marlya’s destined meeting, I was surprised at how well the show handled things. Ray Dawn doubling down on his past actions threw Ver off just enough to make her listen and think about what she’s been dedicating her life towards these past years. Marlya helping her work through her feelings and come out on the other side was great to see. Even if we didn’t get anything too romantic between them, it’s clear to me at least that Marlya definitely has feelings for Ver in this way. It’s less clear if Ver returns them, but at this point, I think she’s become so focused on taking out Ray Dawn that even she has no idea who she is apart from that mission. It’s an interesting question for an ex-assassin, and the likely choice would be to have her join Dorothea and use her talents for their goals. I love that Ver is finally reunited with Marlya on the same side.
I’m less sure that now was the right time to make it happen, though. The Order plotline has only seen development this season, while Ver’s arc has been teased from the very first episode. It might make more sense to me to wrap up the Order’s business before tackling Ver. But then again, maybe if she sticks around, this is a good way to transition her from wanna-be killer to helpful hero. It all depends on if she sticks around during the ending of the final arc, and I’m feeling pretty positive on the show after this episode, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.
“You wanna talk about that now?” Wolfran has no time to talk about his troubles with Free! “The curtains have risen, setting the stage for a new war.” Beevee Liscar being back is something I’m not quite sold on. His fight was epic, but did we really need him in particular to return? “I’m an advocate of freedom and bloodshed.” Wolfran getting finished off after the Ver arc? Didn’t see that coming. “If you insist on dying than I’ll oblige.” Nein is an absolute savage. “As far as regres, I have none. What good would they do me at this point?” Ray Dawn is maybe the most fascinating character in recent episodes. He’s so high-minded that he can’t see the error of his ways, but yet he’s compassionate enough to be genuinely sorry for the pain it’s caused those it affected. He has a terrible attitude towards fairies, though: “Fairies are relics of the past that have only led people to darkness.” “While your crime can’t be pardoned, hating you would only cause more pain, so I won’t.” Marlya setting such a good example for Ver is heartwarming. Ver once saved her as a child, and now she gets to return the favor.
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