Ron Does Stuff

It’s the season finale, and I’m actually getting to watch it on the day it uploads on Netflix! I’m not late, for once!

At the end of the previous episode, we saw a trio of characters who were very vocal about wanting the Kagemoris and the residents of Higashi village going at each other’s throats, something that they’ve waited for for over 400 years. But who are these people?

We’re not finding that out just yet, as we start off at the Kagemori compound, where Gabby is getting Hagure up to speed about what happened last night, specifically Akio’s betrayal. Hagure’s being very naive about why his dad would have killed Akio, and why Akio killed a member of the Kagemori household staff. It understandably pisses Gabby off, and we get to hear their opposing glass half full/half empty arguments about humanity.

Unfortunately, Asa hears the whole argument and thinks that all of this trouble is because of her. Which, to be fair, it kinda is. But Gabby is there to literally kick her butt and tell her that Akio’s actions are his own, and I can already hear the sound of a bajillion keyboards clacking as the wlw fanfiction about these two starts getting written.

We then get a terrifying flashback of Yuru as a young kid disposing of the body of the adult bandit that he killed. Talk about growing up way too early. This flashback happens after his parents left the village and he had to become the man of his household. Certain things in my life have made me grow up too fast, but I at least have not had to get rid of a body.

The flashback is a fever dream, and Yuru wakes up from it feeling better. We get the episode’s requisite lighthearted moment as the whole household welcomes Yuru back and Dera prepares lunch for everybody. But of course, things are going to get worse before they truly get better.

We then get another flashback, this time of Jin meeting Asa after she’s been killed and gained the power of Break. It turns out it’s a dream, and when Asa wakes up, Gabby tells her to grab something to eat and forget about it, just like Hana did with Yuru. They have more in common than they think, and I think the emergence of their common enemy is going to bring them closer together.

And they really do share a lot of things in common, as we’re treated to scenes of both factions being domestic, whether it’s working on math equations, getting drunk, or helping Azami, the kidnapped girl, adapt to modern life. It’s all very “quiet before the storm,” and I can’t help but brace for impact.

That storm starts to show itself when the Higashi village agents are called in for a meeting, and that meeting is attended by their president. There’s talk about him taking over operations here in the city while communication with Granny Yamaha is difficult, but all of that is set aside as Jiro finds a pair of relics in the warehouse where the meeting is being held — and those relics are rigged to explode, just like the ones at the Kagemori compound.

Seeing Jiro make a move to protect Hana as the relics explode was already a great cliffhanger, but an after-credits scene finally explains to us what being from “the West” means. The West is Nishino village, but Gonzo thinks it can’t possibly be that since the village has been under a reservoir for goodness knows how long. But of course, we the audience know that it is Nishino village.

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