English Dub Review: Fairy gone “Rusted Warrior and Unopening Door”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

With the assassination of the Prime Minister, things in Unified Zesskia are beginning to fall apart fast. Marco Bellwood and his cult are working fastidiously behind-the-scenes. They’ve already obtained a fusion, and now they’re after any person who happens to be fairy possessed in order to complete their sacred ritual.

Ray Dawn resigns his post as a duke in order to take over for the prime minister. Along with him comes Ver in the shadows, still trying to get revenge on him for the murder of her people. But now all three fairy possessed people are in the same place, and Bellwood and his order know it. While Marlya and Free work to protect Ray Dawn and get through to Ver, Wolfran is formulating a plan of his own.

Our Take:

I wasn’t sure things could get any more chaotic after last week, but now I may have to eat my words. Fairy gone is serving up an intensely dramatic final act that brings together a lot of pieces and loose threads from last season and this season into one gigantic explosion of a finale. With the return of Ray Dawn, Ver is back in the story as well, and that makes Marlya all the more determined to stop Bellwood and his cronies.

One thing I do appreciate about Bellwood is how he has arguably noble intentions. While he obviously is going about it in the wrong way perhaps, his end goal of exterminating war through the destruction of humanity via fairies isn’t the worst evil plan he could’ve come up with? In a way, he’s more righteous than Ray Dawn, who tried to exterminate the only people who could communicate with the fairies. Ray Dawn gets some nice moments in this episode, like his meetings with Marlya. While it’s not clear if he regrets his choice to murder the villagers in the forest, it is certain that he believes human lives must be valued over those of the fairies. Is he wrong? Maybe, but I’m glad that Fairy gone is giving us a more nuanced conflict than mere good versus evil.

Marlya’s powers are also explored further in this episode. It seems like anyone who’s fairy possessed can hear the voices of the fairies. Ray Dawn can hear them, even though he ignores everything they say. The scene where he and Marlya relay their fairies thoughts to each other was fascinating, and a great example of how far Marlya has come to be able to speak truth to power like that. She doesn’t go about revenge in the same way that Ver does, but it doesn’t mean she’s hurting any less from the carnage he once caused. (Although Marlya has grown in a lot of ways, I may have yelled ‘Shoot him! You have a gun, you idiot!’ as she watched Wolfran running away at the beginning.)

This episode’s dub was good, with Jill Harris getting plenty of chances to shine as Marlya dealt with a wide range of friends and foes. “What ideas has Marco Bellwood put inside your head? I know you and your fairy are suffering!” Marlya’s powers have the potential to change the world. “Whatever the danger, we will protect her.” Free and her fellow comrades dedication to protecting Marlya is admirable to see. “There’s no denying the idiocy of mankind. Just look through any history to find chapters inked in blood.” Bellwood kinda has a point, no? “Chima’s on guard duty with us, too.” Getting to see Chima on guard duty was fun. “Human voices are far more important than these creatures.” Ray Dawn may not be in a cult, but some of his ideas are just as destructive. “Not even me?” Marlya’s reply when Ver says that no one can stop her is heartrending.

Rusted Warrior and Unopening Door does a great job developing the tension, plot, and characters as the series approaches its apex. With Bellwood, Ver, and Ray Dawn on the loose, it’s only a matter of time before things come to a head. But whatever happens, I know Marlya and her friends can handle it… Probably?