Last Exile ep.9-11

April 2, 2004 | 2 Comments

While the previous four episodes seem to focus more on the action as well as the character development, episode nine to eleven seem to be used to develop the mystery behind Exile, Alvis, and Alex's past. One thing that I've enjoyed about the series thus far is the fact that it lacks filler episodes. If I remember correctly, so far every episode has been written as such so that it'll advance the entire plot and narrative of the series. Admittedly, there have been some grand flying scenes that occupy a lot of screen time within each episodes. But at the same time, these scenes normally are there to serve the entire storyline as can be seen in episode nine and ten. I also like the fact that in between the action and battle scenes, the series still manages to insert some interesting character interactions between the regulars.

Anyway, the ninth episode starts with an image of an old man sitting on a rocking chair and looking at a piece of a broken sword that looks similar to the one that belongs to the Goliath captain in the previous episode. The old man then mutters about something being stupid. The series quickly shift its focus back to Lavie who is in the midst of fixing hers and Claus' vanship. In the midst of doing so, she was surprised when she receives help from Mullin who claims that he's a proficient technician and wants to help her. Upon hearing what Mullin said, the crew of Silvana immediately force the poor guy to be a mechanic by using a rather interesting way. So Mullin is now officially accepted as a part of the Silvana crew. Claus and Lavie are then told by the rest of the mechanic crew that Sophia wants to see them.

Upon seeing the Vice-captain herself, they are informed that if they want to, they can participate in the 8 hour races at Horizon cave. This race will give each participant a used vanship which the participant must fixed and use in the race. Anyone who can reach the finish line first at 12 AM will then be the winner. Sophia tells them that she can asks the crew of Silvana to help them out if they want to participate. Claus and Lavie was at first surprised that they are allowed to join the race but they then happily accept the offer. Sophia asks Claus why he thinks he won't be allowed to join the race. Claus answers that it's because when he joins Silvana, he thought he's there to help Silvana in the war. Sophia says that it's not just for the Silvana but also for the freedom of the sky. This conversation, however, seems to have been overheard by both Lavie and Alvis who stand not too far from Claus and Sophia.

Most of Silvana crew except the navigators then departs to the cave. Meanwhile somewhere else, Lord Viscount Nolts, the old man who appeared at the start of the episode, is seen in a conversation with a short man who informs him that Silvana is coming their way. Back to the Silvana crew, Claus, Lavie, and Alvis have finally reached the cave and are excited to see the activities and sights in the area. Claus and Lavie then asks Alvis to pick the vanship that they're going to use. Unfortunately, the vanship that they get seems to be more like a junk. However, the Silvana crews assure them not to worry because they are going to work their hardest to make sure that the vanship becomes a winner vanship. So once again we get to see that the Silvana crews have really accepted both Claus and Lavie as one of their own. Meanwhile Sophia tells Alex that she'll watch over Alvis while he's away and also that Alex should train his eye to get used of darkness at precisely 12 o'clock in the morning.

Tatiana then complains to Alex that both Claus and Lavie will only hinder her in her job but thankfully Alex quickly shuts her with some well-chosen comment. The crew then comments that they'll probably get the brunt of Tatiana anger later on because of this which surprises Mullin who didn't know that Tatiana has such a bad attitude. Anyway,Claus, Lavie, and the crew of Silvana finally manage to turn the junk vanship into one that will work in the tournament and they fly off to test the vanship. As they depart, the crew of Silvana makes a comment to Sophia that Lavie will make a good mechanic in the future. Meanwhile Mullin is told by his co-worker to guard a case which supposed to contain something of importance to Tatiana. It's also become obvious soon that Tatiana is not in the area to join the race but to perform some kind of a mission. Meanwhile, Claus and Lavie are back at the hangar and start performing more fixes to their plan.

Unbeknownst to them, Dio, the Guild pilot who almost killed them in the previous episode and his navigator, Luciora, have arrived to join in the tournament. Dio then gladly hugs Claus, surprising Claus and the rest of the Silvana crews who didn't expect that one of their enemy will join the race. After a minor scuffle, Dio tells the Silvana crews that he doesn't have any interest in capturing Alvis but rather to join the race and compete with Claus, who he considers a very good pilot. Dio also comes with a lot of comments about some Silvana crews and none of them are happy about it especially Tatiana, who according to Dio should just fly randomly so that she won't bother anyone else. We also find out from the conversation between Dio and Luciora that they have arrived there together with Dio's sister, Maestro Delphine. After a minor problem with their vanship, Claus and Lavie finally joins the race and speeds up to catch up with their competition. Meanwhile, Alister has to remind a speeding Tatiana that they are not there for the race but Tatiana refuses to listen to her navigator, especially after Dio mocks her again while they are in the air.

While the race and Tatiana's mission is going on, Alex is seen wearing a party mask inside a huge theatre filled with other people who are also wearing similar masks. Apparently they are there to participate in an auction which is conducted by the owner of the Cape, John Carlo, the short man who was seen talking to Lord Viscount earlier in the episode. Meanwhile Lord Viscount himself has taken a seat next to Alex and comments that Alex doesn't seem to be that interested in the auction since he hasn't bid for anything at all. Alex replies that the same applies to Lord Viscount as well. Lord Viscount simply answers that he already finds what he wants. The auction finally reach the most important item to be sold. It's an Exile item. According to the auctioner, the item allows for entrance into Exile. Anyway, the appearance of the object shocks everyone in the room but they are even more shocked when they find out that Alex bids 10 millions Claudias for the item.

Episode ten first shows Tatiana and Alister returning to the hangar to perform some checkups on their vanship. Tatiana is then starts to throw some harsh words towards the crew as expected, which seems to cause discontentment from Alister. Elsewhere, Alex is engaged in a bidding war with Lord Viscount for the Exile item. The bid soon baloons up from 10 million Claudias to 12 to 15 millions. Back to the race hanger, Dio tells his Guild crew to fill his vanship with full fuel because he has many things that he wants to do. In contrast, Lavie asks the Silvana crew only to fill their vanship with half fuel. Although they have many tricks they need to perform in the air, Lavie is confident half fuel is all that they need. The race then starts again but this time, Tatiana and Alister are fully focused on performing their mission. They then throw some kind of a mini machine around an area which looks like a power generator for the whole area. Back to the auction room, the competition there also heats up as Lord Viscount bids Exile for 20 millions and Alex counters the offer with 30 millions.

Lord Viscount tells a disinterested Alex that Alex seems awfully eager to obtain this Exile item and he wonders what motivates Alex. For Lord Viscount, it's kids. He then starts saying about how his kid is someone who doesn't like to collide with people. The auction still, however, goes on with the Price going up to 50 million Claudias. This attracts the attention of Dio's sister, Delphine who then proceeds to anonymously bid through a phone for 100 millions. Lord Viscount admits that he's reached his limit and won't bid anymore. Alex, however, calmly bids for 300 millions, shocking everyone including Delphine. Alex is now in a bidding war with Delphine who offers 1000 millions, which is upped by Alex to 5000 millions. Back to the race, Tatiana and Alister's vanship is now equipped with some kind of missile on the right and left wing of the ship. Sophia then orders the crew to leave the hangar quickly, prompting Alvis to wonder about Claus and Lavie. However, the crew assures the girl that they have to go so they can prepare a celebration party for Claus and Lavie.

Inside the auction room, the word 'hot' is not enough to describe the price that is thrown around by Alex and Delphine. However, just after Delphine bids the Exile item for 50 billions Claudias, a bunch of masked henchmen appears inside the auction room and wards off the other guest. One of the masked henchmen then points a gun at Alex's head while Lord Viscount tells Alex to stop saying another word. He thinks Alex shouldn't be bidding for such useless item anyway. Meanwhile, the race inside the cave itself also heats up with most of the competitors are eliminated because they can't handle the speed in which they travel, leaving Claus and Lavi's and Dio and Luciora's vanship as the two leading vanship in the race. Dio makes a comment about how good Claus is at this 'game'. Claus who is unhappy with Dio's comment about the race being a 'game' decides to ignore him and races forward, leaving Dio behind. Dio is surprised to find out that for the first time someone actually ignores him and vows to win the race. Inside the auction room, however, Alex is in a difficult position because not only he lost the Exile item to Delphine due to his inability to bid anymore, he's also forced by Lord Viscount's henchmen to go outside so that Lord Viscount can have a private talk with Alex.

Before he left, however, Alex manages to cast a meaningful eye contact with the person who wants to sell the Exile item who seems to know Alex as well. Once Alex is out in what appears to be a balcony inside the building, Lord Viscount Nolts reveals himself as the father of Captain Nolts of the Goliath ship which was sunk by Alex in one of the previous episodes. Lord Viscount is there to revenge the death of his son who he felt was killed for nothing. Back to the cave, Tatiana and Alister have successfully released the canister which seems to contain a self-activating bomb. At the same time, Claus and Lavie are reaching the final part of the race and they manage to be ahead of Dio thanks to the lesser amount of fuel that is contained in their vanship that works well against the weight of the frame itself. Thanks to Lavie's intelligence, both Claus and Lavie come up as the winner of the vanship race, which earns Dio's annoyance and admiration as well. Just as this happen, the bomb that Tatiana and Alister left in the power room detonates itself, effectively blacking out all power in the area.

Claus and Lavie who are puzzled by the blackout also realises that the Silvana crews are not at the hangar anymore and wonder what has transpired behind the scenes. At the same time, Alex uses the momentary distraction that the black out provides to kill all of Lord Viscount's henchmen as well as injuring the Lord himself while he escape from their clutch. Back to Tatiana and Alister, Alister gladly tells Tatiana that their plan works well. However, Tatiana cruelly tells Alister that she missed the spot and that the plan simply worked because of pure luck. Meanwhile inside the auction room, the auctioneer, John Carlo, is relieved when he finds out that the Exile item is still there but is also confused when he can't find the person who owns the item. Never the less he brings the item to Delphine who tells him to open the item, revealing an empty box. This seems to anger Delphine and John Carlo begs her forgiveness because he doesn't know what happened to the item. Delphine not only forgives him but also proceeds to give him her seemingly expensive golden ring as a 'thank you' present for his help in the auction.

Elsewhere in the area, Alex meets up with Graf, the person who supposed to sell the Exile item. Graf turns out to be someone who used to serve under the Hamilton family. He asks Alex how Alvis is doing and Alex tells him that Alvis is unaware of the tasks that she bears. Graf then asks Alex to guard Exile and Alvis with all of his power and tells Alex a part of a poem which supposed to open the door to Exile: "Beyond those that exist in memory". According to Graf, there are in total 4 questions and 4 answers that completes the poem. Back to the cave, Claus and Lavie lament the fact that there's nothing they can do until the power comes back and decides to spend the time talking to each other. Claus thanks Lavie because it's her initiative that allows them to win the tournament. Claus tells her that itself is enough to convince him that he needs Lavie as his navigator. Lavie thanks him but tells him that she wants to stop being a navigator until the war ends. She admits of being scared of the war and feels that the sky is not the same happy sky they used to look at. She tried to stay as a navigator because she understands that Claus wants to be involved in the war. However, she can't do it anymore. Because of this, from now on, she'll support Claus from afar by becoming the mechanic of the vanship.

Claus agrees with Lavie's request on the condition that she will become his navigator again once the war is over. They made a pact that next time they fly together as pilot and navigator, it'll be when they're about to cross the huge airflow. After the conversation is finished, however, the two are still concerned about how they'll be able to get back to Silvana since they are low on fuel. Thankfully, Dio arrives with his plane and tells them to attach a cable on their ship so his ship can take them back to Silvana. It's good to see that Dio is someone who doesn't harbour resentment at losing the race to Claus. Back at the auction room, John Carlo is the midst of admiring his new expensive ring. Unfortunately for him, the ring then reverberates and turns him into a pile of dusts in a matter of seconds. It is obvious now that even though they are siblings, Delphine and Dio couldn't be further apart. Thanks to Dio's help, Claus and Lavie manage to return to Silvana and are happily greeted by the crews and Alvis. However, Claus, Lavie, Alvis, and the rest of the crew soon turns suspicious when they find out that Dio has also aboard the Silvana.

Episode eleven basically continues from the previous episode with the crew of Silvana being highly suspicious of Dio and Luciora and attempt to capture them. However, both Dio and Luciora don't seem to show that much resistance and are captured by the Silvana soldiers. Meanwhile inside his room, Alex is having a nightmarish flashback where he was flying inside the huge airflow and almost got crushed by an eerily big airship. Alex wakes up from his sleep and goes to interrogate Dio. Upon hearing his last name, Alex immediately realises that Dio is the immediately family of Maestro Delphine and asks why is he in the ship. Dio answers that he just wants to see Claus because he thinks Claus is one talented pilot. Alex then asks if Dio is there to see Alvis. Dio, however, has no interest in her but understands why Alex is suspicious. As a sign of goodwill, Dio decides to give a present to Alex as long as he promised not to tell Delphine about it. He then whispers a poem which seems to be a part of the poem that Graf mentioned in the previous episode. According to Dio, that is the secret poem inherited by the all of the Eracles family.

There are actually three other poems which were inhereted by the other major family clans of the Guild: the Hamiltons, the Dagobels, and the Bachianus. Unfortunately, all of the other three family clans were killed. Alex then asks how many poems does the Eracles family actually know. Dio said that apart from the one he just told him, Delphine was about to acquire another one before Alex beats her to it, which stops Alex momentarily because his machination to obtain that wasn't a secret anymore. Dio wonders how many of the poems does Alex actually know. He thinks it's three but when Alex refuses to answer, Dio doesn't seem to care and simply want to go back to the Silvana hangar so he can see Claus again. Meanwhile, Claus is still reeling from the fact that he now doesn't have any navigator because Lavie is really serious about becoming a mechanic while the war is on. Before he can continue to lament his fate, however, Dio arrives and tells them that he's now under Claus and Lavie's direct supervision. Lavie at first hesitates but after Dio tells her that he admires her initiative to only fill the vanship with half fuel, Lavie thinks that Dio may not such a bad guy after all.

Dio also turns out to be a down to earth person. Despite the fact that he's the heir to the Eracles family, he doesn't seem to have any problem of getting down and dirty in helping Lavie to fix Claus' vanship. As the trio works on their ship, a message flare appears in the sky and prompts Tatiana and Alister to check it out. It turns out the message was sent by Urbanus Captain, Vincent Altzei, who requests a meeting with Alex in regards to the 'Cargo' (read: Alvis E. Hamilton). Alex agrees to meet with Vincent and asks Claus to escort him, inciting Tatiana's wrath who starts badmouthing Claus' flying ability. However, Sophia reminds her that it's the Captain order and Tatiana should not have question it. Never the less, Tatiana manages to point out that Claus doesn't have a navigator anymore. Upon hearing this, Alister says that she's willing to be Claus' navigator. Tatiana, however, rebuffs the suggestion and tells Alister that she's too slow. Sophia, however, grants Alister's request, much to Tatiana's chagrin. Before she left, Alister angrily tells Tatiana that there is no freedom in Tatiana's sky and leaves the ace pilot to contemplate the meaning of the words.

Elsewhere in the emperor's palace, the cardinal to the emperor sends a Pigeon to deliver a written message to an unknown destination. At the same time, Alex reaches his meeting point with Vincent. Despite an attempt by Vincent to engage Alex in small talk about the past and coffee, Alex remains cold and asks Vincent to get to the point. At the same time, Alister attempts to get a reading on the star by using an astrolobe. The result of the reading, however, forces her to tell Claus that they can no longer rely on the stars because something seems to be affecting them. Inside the meeting, Vincent finally has no other way but to tell Alex that he is there under the emperor's order to obtain the 'Cargo'. Alex, however, refuses to hand over Alvis to the emperor, prompting Vincent to warn him that he's ordered to engage Alex in a ship fight should Alex refuses to hand over the 'Cargo'. Both men then decides to return to their respective airship to prepare for the upcoming battle. Inside Silvana, Dio and Luciora manages to find the engineering room and realises that the Silvana uses an unregistered Guild technology to fly the ship and that a Guild rebel called Ressius is actually the chief engineer.

Meanwhile, Sophia is seen inside her room looking reflective and a bit downcast. She is then startled by a light knock on her window which turns out coming from the Pigeon that was sent by the Cardinal of the Emperor. At the same time, Dio wanders inside a room where Alvis sits on a swing. Upon seeing Dio, Alvis tells Dio that she doesn't like him because Dio calls Claus with strange name. Dio, however, ignores the comment and simply wonders if she really is Alvis E. Hamilton. Alvis wonders if Dio knows about her and Dio admits that he does and proceeds to whisper the mysterious poem in Alvis' ear "Something that exists in the other side of the sky". Upon doing so, Alvis immediately glows white and stops moving. In the hangar, Sophia greets Alex and immediately tells him that the emperor has send her an order. As they traveled using the elevator, however, they feel a turbulance happening all around the ship. It turns out the turbulance comes from Alvis who becomes brighter and brighter like a star and causes havoc all over the ship and to the clouds that surround the ship. When Claus attempts to reach Alvis, however, Alvis simply recite another part of the poem "Something to guide the lost children back to their mother. Exile".

Overall, I really like these three episodes. To begin with, I like the fact that Silvana's past action can haunt them in the future. Everything has repercussions and consequences. For example, Alex's decision to terminate the life of the Goliath captain quickly comes back to haunt Alex in the ninth and tenth episode. The father of the Captain clearly wants to exact revenge on his son's killer. Although Alex manages to escape from the situation, one must wonder how many of Lord Viscount types hold some kind of a grudge on Alex and the rest of the Silvana crew. Having said that, I like the fact that the writers also show the kind side of the Silvana crew. As I mentioned before, their willingness to accept Claus and Lavie and now Mullin as one of their own is really something. Sure enough Claus and Lavie mostly win because of Lavie's intelligence. But at the same time, they won't be there to begin with if it wasn't for the kindness of the Silvana crew who helps them to repair the junk vanship into one that actually flies well.

I also enjoy the interaction that the regulars have with some of the new characters such as Dio and Luciora. Dio turns out to be quite an interesting character. However, although he has done some questionable thing, I think he's not going to become the antagonist of the story. I think most of the time his actions are motivated by simple curiosity and he actually has a big heart even when he actually lost to his competitor. Unfortunately, the same thing can't be said to his sister, who I think is a bit of a creep. If she is willing to kill an innocent a person just because the person inadvertently fails to secure the item that she supposed to get, I have to wonder what else will she do to actually obtain the item. And that's where things get interesting. 'The item' that everyone seems to eagerly bid turns out to be a piece of puzzle that forms a complete poem. If I understand it correctly, there used to be 4 questions/answers. Each of the 4 questions are inherited by each major family clan of the Guild. And judging from the last scene in episode eleven, I think Alvis is the key that they need to answer the 4 questions and form a perfect poem.

I still, however, don't understand what the purpose of reciting the poem. There is a talk about finding 'Exile' but I still have no idea what kind of item is 'Exile' and what is the purpose of obtaining it. I also don't understand how and why Alvis is needed? What's so special about her that she can emits glowing power from within her? If she's needed so that she can recite the poem, then surely it's not that hard to coax that poem out of her. I also get a bit tired of watching Tatiana being a major pain to everyone around her. I don't know what's her issues but she is not the only person who has her own problem so her rudeness was uncalled for. At times I actually feel embarassed for her because the show does a good job of showing the reaction of everyone who gets to hear some of the things that she said. And I get the feeling that apart from Claus and Mullin, no one seems to like her that much and that's not a surprise given how she has treated those around her. Anyway, I hope future episodes will deal with this as well some of the mysteries that begin to emerge in these episodes.

© memento 2003