Hazbin Hotel Season Two, Episodes Five and Six Review: Holy Animation, Batman!

A few weeks back, Hazbin Hotel gave us one of its best episodes with “It’s a Deal.”
Well, I am pleased to say that Season Two continues to exceed expectations with Episodes Five and Six, “Silenced” and “Scream Rain,” both of which have standout factors that place them above other episodes.
“Silenced” has the best animation of the series so far, and “Scream Rain” is easily the funniest episode of Hazbin Hotel yet.
Episode Five begins with the musical number, “Bad with Us”, which is used to depict Vox going around to recruit other Overlords for his plan to attack Heaven.
The song has a few humorous moments, like Vox’s attempts to recruit Carmilla, embarrassing both Valentino and Velvette.
It also shows off the extreme talent of Christian Borle, as he sings through multiple different musical subgenres to appeal to different Overlords.

It makes so much sense that Vox was a cult leader, given how convincing he can be.

Meanwhile, at the Hazbin Hotel, Charlie is desperately trying to get Emily and other angels’ attention, leading to Vaggie asking Lucifer for help.
It is here that we get the perfect explanation for why Lucifer lets the sinners do as they please.
It is revealed that, since Lucifer being in Hell is a punishment, he is unable to harm sinners, meaning he has had to watch them abuse each other for thousands of years.
This explains why he was so nihilistic back in Season One.
It also answers my question of how Vox would be able to take over Heaven, since I figured Lucifer would try to stop him.
However, just because Lucifer cannot harm sinners, does not mean he is unable to bluff them into thinking he can.
At the same time, it is revealed that Emily and Sera are actually watching Charlie, but Sera has doubts about helping, unsure how she can make up for what she has done
Pentious provides both good advice and a pretty great callback when he tells her, “A wise woman once told me, ‘It starts with sorry.’”
About Pentious though, I do find it strange that Sera and Emily did not bring him with them when they decided to appeal to the Sinners.
You would think seeing one of their own redeemed might sway some of them?
Unfortunately, Pentious is still unable to leave Heaven for undisclosed reasons, which does feel a little too convenient.

Just replace Lute with Pentious and I think this whole scene might have gone a little better for Charlie.

The angels travel to Hell and Charlie convinces them to go with her to apologize at one of Vox’s rallies, a decision which I am sure we can all agree was an excellent one with absolutely no chance of backfiring, just like every other decision Charlie has made this season… right?
At Vox’s rally, we potentially see the beginning of Alastor’s plan, with him goading Vox into pushing Valentino and Velvette to the side in favor of himself.
Vox’s show is quickly interrupted by Lucifer, however, kicking off the second song of the episode, “Vox Populi.”
The first half of the song is a Lucifer solo, which is great, before Vox takes over the song, exposing Lucifer’s weakness to the crowd, going so far as to even bring up Lillith to his face.
It is here where we get our first showcase of excellent animation, with the camera panning around Lucifer circling an unimpressed Vox.

The animation during this song is the best of the series.

Following this, Charlie and the angels arrive, but Vox is able to quickly turn the situation against them, which Charlie really should have expected at this point.
Vox certainly does not have to try hard, what with Lute calling him demon filth (seriously, why did they bring her?), the angels apologizing for genocide with gift baskets, and Sera revealing her true form and stating demons like Vox were the reason she approved the Exterminations.
Vox uses this to build into the final song, “Vox Dei,” a short number but probably my favorite of the episode for the sheer aura it provides Vox.
I will admit that at the beginning of the season I had my doubts about whether Vox could be a threatening antagonist, but this episode more than convinced me.
The animation for this scene is once again amazing, with another panning shot perfectly showing Vox’s threatening presence.

I apologize, Vox. I was not familiar with your game.

On top of that, it is abundantly clear that Vox is meant to represent extreme right-wing rhetoric in media, given his statements of “manifest destiny”, “make Hell great again”, and “I’m the furor (führer)”.
It is not subtle, but it is definitely effective, both on the viewer and the angels, who flee, leaving Charlie alone.
She returns to the Hazbin Hotel, infuriated with her father and Vaggie.
It is here we get the long awaited calling out of Charlie, with Vaggie pointing out how she is making things worse by not listening to her and engaging with Vox.
Seeing Charlie finally be called out was both a great moment from Vaggie and a worthy conclusion to another really good episode with stellar animation.
Following “Silenced”, we move on to the funniest episode of the series so far, “Scream Rain.”
The episode opens similarly to the last one, with Vox attempting to convince Carmilla to join his cause.
He enlists the help of Velvette to do so, who delivers the most totally not fake apology of all time.

Wait… you mean this smile ISN’T genuine?

In the end, Vox does convince Carmilla by leveraging her daughters’ safety.
As for Velvette, if last episode saw Valentino souring towards Vox, now it is her turn.
Vox belittles her and he did not even need to feel inferior to Alastor to do so.
Back at the hotel, Charlie and Vaggie are still at odds but have to work together after word of Carmilla supporting Vox spreads.
They go to confront her together, leaving Nifty in charge, since Husk quit because Alastor is no longer there to force him to work at the hotel.
Afterwards, we get our first song of the episode, “Love in a Bottle”, which sees Husk return to his old ways at a casino, winning again and again, until he eventually loses and falls into a drunken stupor.
The song is both catchy and sad, what with Husk’s spiral.

Plus, hearing Keith David sing is always a win.

Meanwhile, upon Charlie and Vaggie’s meeting with Carmilla, we get the first of a few great laughs in the episode, with Carmilla complaining about “lesbian drama” while Charlie shouts at her for helping “the TV man!”
We also get a surprising look into Vaggie’s past when Carmilla reminds her of her time with the exorcists.
Through brief flashes, we see Vaggie and another exorcist recruit being mistreated by Adam and Lute.
It looked like whoever this other exorcist was, they were close to Vaggie.
Even stranger is the appearance of the exorcist woman.
They all look alike, with the same hair coloring and facial features.
It makes me wonder if this was a deliberate choice by Adam or something else?
Before we can get answers, the scene transitions to Husk again, where he is shocked to see Angel Dust singing in drag at the casino.
Husk’s shocked “Angel!?” got a good laugh out of the me, and the following song from Angel, “Losing Streak” is so good it makes a few of the sinners in the audience question their sexuality.
Unfortunately for Angel, Vox has plans for him, which we see when he requests his time from Valentino.
Both he and Velvette diss him for using them, to which Vox attempts to lay on the charm until, of course, Alastor starts goading him again.
Seeing Alastor spin in the chair to reveal himself got another big laugh from me, and the idea that he and Velvette were just gossiping about Vox is very humorous and already inspired multiple fanarts.
As for Vox, Alastor triggers his inferiority complex again, and he tries to force Valentino to comply.
This ends with the funniest moment in all of Hazbin Hotel for me, when Valentino storms off while speaking in Spanish, Vox makes a racist remark, and Valentino responds, “I’m from fucking Flordia!” and then decks Vox in the face with a glass.

Sadly, this humor would not last long. Just ask Angel.

While hilarious, this scene also pushes Alastor’s plan further.
He has spent the past two episodes manipulating Vox into pushing the other Vees away, and it definitely seems to be working.
I would not be surprised if Velvette and Valentino betrayed Vox in the last two episodes.
How this will tie into the rest of Alastor’s plan remains to be seen.
While Alastor’s plotline is still ongoing, Charlie and Vaggie’s fight is thankfully resolved this episode, when Charlie realizes the error of her ways, and goes all out on an apology by making a romantic setting for her and Vaggie.
This culminates in the last song of the episode, “Easy”, which shows how good Vaggie is for Charlie because, when she gets overwhelmed, Vaggie soothes her back to calmness.
Well, “calm” is probably not the right word considering the whole song is pretty much a substitute for Charlie and Vaggie doing the do, proven by it ending with the two of them in bed.

I am glad see Charlie changing while continuing to get closer with Vaggie.

The episode goes from one couple to a potential one, cutting to Husk and Angel talking in the aftermath of Angel’s performance, where the two further connect, before Angel has to leave for a job.
It is here that the episode goes from funny and feel-good to depressing, when we finally get the scene of Vox hurting Angel from the trailer.
A big twist also happens here because Vox reveals that he has been hypnotizing Angel into spying on the Hazbin Hotel, which is how he knew numerous things, such as the fact that Lucifer could not hurt him.
Vox now plans to use him to make Charlie kill herself somehow, but we will have to learn the details on how this will work in the final two episodes.
Another interesting detail are the eyes watching Angel when he enters the apartment.
These eyes have been seen throughout Hell, but this is the first time the show has deliberately focused on them.
They do not seem connected to Vox, so I am interested in seeing what the explanation is, although I think this might be foreshadowing for future seasons.

Angel Dust is not the only factor is Vox’s plan though because we see him imitate Charlie’s voice to draw Lucifer in, planning to use him as a power source for something.
Vox’s plans are going to come to their climax soon but, with him pushing aside Valentino and Velvette, Cherry and Husk’s suspicions about Angel’s location, and Alastor’s currently unknown plan, I think it is pretty safe to say this will all blow up in Vox’s face in a spectacular and satisfying fashion.
We will know in an hour, when the final episodes of Season Two drop.
As for Episodes Five and Six, they are both great, with excellent animation and hilarious moments.
Season Two has exceeded my expectations so far, and I hope the last episodes will not disappoint.

Arcane Season Two, Episode Five, Blisters and Bedrock Review: Best Episode of Act Two?

Usually, the best episode of every Arcane Act is the last one.
Well, this trend changed with Episode Five “Blisters and Bedrock”, which is not only the best episode of Act Two but also the best episode of Season Two so far.
It begins with the same pit fighter Vi tease we got before Act One released.
In this scene, we see Vi at her lowest.
She has lost Caitlyn and now spends her nights fighting for money, wasting that money on getting blackout drunk, pushing away any friends she has, until she even starts losing fights.
It is at rock bottom where Jinx finds her, returning to tell her about Vander’s return.
Naturally, Vi does not take too kindly to seeing her sister after their last, violent interaction.
Still, seeing her start to strangle Jinx was pretty uncomfortable, and the following shot of Vi’s face in the cracked mirror shows just how far she has fallen.
It is a good thing that the episode works towards bringing the sisters together.
But, since this is the best storyline of the episode, I will save talking about it for later.
First, I will talk about Ambessa recruiting Singed.
I had a feeling she would, given how desperate she is for a weapon to combat the Black Rose.
Her recruiting him also lead to quite a few revelations about Singed.
We learn from Caitlyn that his name used to be Reveck, a once respected doctor in Piltover who was banished for a crime that was buried, most likely by Heimerdinger.
Singed tells Caitlyn he committed many unspeakable acts “for love” and then reveals his daughter to her and Ambessa.
Like Mr Freeze, he has sealed his loved one away, all in the hope of eventually curing death itself, only to become more of a monster with each passing day.
Because, as Silco said back in Season One, “Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?”
Singed is not the only character we receive a few revelations about this episode because we also see what has happened to Mel after being kidnapped by the Black Rose at the end of Episode Three.
She is locked up in an Oculorum, a chamber used to seal away false prophets.
Or, as Mel’s fellow prisoner calls it, “the fancy pits peacock princes like to toss their friends into.”
This line causes Mel to realize that the man is her brother, Kino, thought dead by their mother.
Sadly, it turns out that Kino most likely is dead because the brother Mel is seeing is later revealed to be a hallucination made by the Black Rose to try and get whatever power Mel has.
The Black Rose, disguised as Kino, tells Mel that what she inherited, “is of terrible interest to our captors.”
When the disguise is broken, whoever is holding Mel captive also calls her “sister”, but it is unclear if this person is her actual sibling or just referencing Mel as Kino’s sister.
Either way, there are a lot of mysteries to unpack her, and we will have to wait until Act Three to have them answered because this is the last time we see Mel in Act Two.
At least we have one answer, which is how she and Jayce survived Jinx’s rocket at the beginning of the season.
When she is held by the Black Rose’s chains, Mel’s eyes start to glow, and her golden armor shines before releasing a wave of power which frees her.
This pretty much confirms this power is what saved her and Jayce, and I am very interested to see what it is and why the Black Rose want it.
With Singed and Mel’s storylines out of the way, I can now get to discussing the main storyline of Jinx and Vi searching for Vander.
Traveling down into the mines below Zaun, the two sisters quickly begin to bicker.
In my opinion, Jinx easily wins the comeback duel, hilariously referring to Vi’s gauntlets as “bitch mittens” before proving she can last one second in a fight against her.
Isha quickly gets involved in the fight on the side of Jinx, and Vi hits her, resulting in a bloody nose.
I cannot help but wonder if that brought Vi back to the night when she slapped Powder.
Jinx references that night, saying she recruited Vi to help Vander so things would end differently this time.
“Besides,” she says. “He’s your father too.”
This was a great scene between the sisters, and the use of mushrooms which glow whenever someone claps or lands a punch was a nice touch.
Eventually, the trio find out why Vander fled into the mines.
This place used to be a hideout for him and Silco, and we see a letter Vander addressed to him, apologizing for his betrayal and telling Silco he knows where to find him, meaning the Last Drop.
The letter makes me think Vander attacked Silco after the Bridge fight which orphaned Vi and Powder.
Seeing the deaths his revolution had caused, Vander decided to live a peaceful life.
The only problem with that was Silco wanted to keep fighting, leading to Vander attempting to drown him so the peace he was attempting to forge could be maintained.
He only realized the enormity of what he had done after it was over and left the letter to Silco in the hopes of patching things up.
Unfortunately, Silco never went back to those mines so never read the letter.
If he had, as Jinx says, “everything might have been different.”
During this moment, we see the first sign of the bridging rift between the sisters when Vi almost puts a comforting hand on Jinx’s shoulder but stops herself.
They leave the hideout, but the three are quickly confronted by Vander, who was drawn in by Isha’s blood.
Vi understandably does not recognize Vander under the bloody visage of Warwick, and fights him off, only for Jinx’s pleading to convince her to reach out to him.
In an imposing shot, Vi faces off against Vander, shouting his name, which draws us into a flashback before Vi and Powder’s births.
We see that both Vander and Silco were close with the girls’ mother, Felicia.
As she dances to “Our Love” from Season One, she tells the two of her pregnancy, putting them on the hook to look out for her kids.
She tells them, “You two are gonna figure this Zaun thing out. I don’t care if you have to carve it out of the bedrock, covered in blisters. You’re not allowed to fail anymore. For her. For me.”
Along with delivering the title for this episode, Felicia’s lines also add another layer of tragedy because Vander and Silco did fail.
Their fallout led to the tragedy that separated Vi and Jinx, a separation which is only now just beginning to heal.
Although, the flashback does end on a hopeful note, by revealing that Vander was the one to name Vi.
The scene then cuts back to the present day with Jinx and Isha alone in the darkness, unsure of the fates of Vi and Vander.
They walk through the dark, until they find the two in an embrace.
Vi reaches a hand out to Jinx.
“What are you waiting for,” she says, paying off Jinx’s earlier statement. “He’s your dad too.”
And, with that, the water works officially started.
Yeah, I was a mess during this scene.
Seeing the sisters reunite and embrace their father after so much tragedy just broke me.
But this is Arcane so, of course, something bad is on the horizon.
We see Salo, who has been cured of his paralysis thanks to Viktor, attempting to take something from the Hexgate’s failsafe.
This coincides with the return of Jayce from whatever alternate dimension he, Ekko and Heimerdinger were trapped in at the end of Episode Three.
Jayce has clearly had it rough, what with his grizzled appearance, beard, and even his arcane crystal infused into his hand.
As for Salo, he is oddly upbeat, a complete turnaround from his prior personality.
You could say that he is just happy to have the use of his legs back but, as some Arcane fans have pointed out, Salo is not breathing.
We have seen the breath of every character in this room, whether it be Jayce, Ekko or Heimerdinger.
Salo is the only character whose breath we do not see, suggesting a much more sinister nature to Viktor’s cures.
Backing this up is Viktor’s creepy takeover of Salo’s body to talk with Jayce.
Through this, we can see how the two’s perspectives have flipped.
Viktor originally wanted the Hexcore destroyed, but now he uses it to help others, or at least that is how he sees it.
Jayce used the Hexcore to save Viktor but, through whatever traumatic experience he has had, now realizes the danger of all Hextech, wanting to destroy it.
The episode ends with him killing Salo, another showcase of his development.
Back in Season One, he told Vi he could not allow her to leave with the gauntlets but, in the end, relented.
Jayce does no such thing now, killing Salo without hesitation and, on that grim note, the episode ends.
Overall, I would say that “Blisters and Bedrock” is the best episode of the season so far.
Mel’s storyline deepens the mystery of the Black Rose.
Singed’s storyline perfectly falls into Arcane‘s theme about the lengths fathers will go to for their daughters.
Speaking of, Vi and Jinx reuniting with their adopted father got the tears flowing.
To top it all off, the episode ends on the dark return of Jayce, building to his and Viktor’s meeting in the next episode.
“Blisters and Bedrock” is not only a fantastic Arcane episode, but the first one that was the best of its Act without being the final episode.

House of the Dragon Season Two, Episode Five, Regent Review: What in the Oedipus Complex?

After one of the best episodes of House of the Dragon, the subsequent one, “Regent,” is a much calmer affair.
Despite this, it has, without question, the most cursed moment of the entire series so far.
Directed by Claire Kilner, the episode begins by showing Corlys’ reaction to the death of Rhaenys.
While his tearful moment is tragic, I will admit I was a bit disappointed we did not get the scene from the book, which I feel could have made Corlys’ grief more palpable.
Steve Toussaint’s performance still gets the job done, though.
From here, the episode transitions to King’s Landing where we see the Greens milking Rhaenys and Meleys’ defeat for all it is worth.
Meleys’ head is paraded through the streets to show the Small Folk of the victory at Rooks’ Rest.
If the Greens were hoping for a propaganda win then they definitely underestimated the element of superstition, as much of the Small Folk view the death of a dragon as a bad omen.
Also, it’s probably not a good idea to show the oppressed people that the dragons they fear can be killed.
Hugh spells this out perfectly when he states that the dragons are, “just meat.”
But the parade has another purpose besides propaganda.
It is also being used to smuggle the injured Aegon back into King’s Landing.
I was curious to see how far they would go with Aegon’s injuries.
The book’s description was pretty gnarly, and I wondered if the show would go all the way with it, or just apply a little makeup.
Well, of course House of the Dragon did not cheap out because Aegon’s wounds are gruesome.
Aemond, however, is more concerned with taking power in Aegon’s place, and Cole is willing to stay silent about what really happened, even to Alicent.
Back with the Blacks, the loss of Rhaenys and Meleys is causing Rhaenyra to have trouble with her lords again.
One of them takes the sexist approach again, telling Rhaenyra that the “gentler sex” has no place in planning battles, only for Rhaenyra to correctly point out that he has about as much battle experience as her.
It is good to see these troublesome lords get called out, although Rhaenys’ presence is missed because she was especially good at this.
Meanwhile, in the Riverlands, Daemon is attempting to threaten the Brackens into bending the knee with the help of Caraxes.
Admirably, however, the Brackens are steadfast in the face of being burned alive, and bravely turn their backs on the dragon.
Daemon’s following statement, “I did not think they would be so eager to die” makes him almost seems impressed with them.
This does not stop him from tasking Willem Blackwood (Jack Parry-Jones) with terrorizing their lands to threaten the Brackens into bending the knee.
If you will recall, Willem was the young man who vied for Rhaenyra’s hand back in Season One and killed his Bracken tormentor.
He is just as eager to take on the Brackens now, escalating it to war crimes with Daemon’s encouragement.
As for Daemon’s children, Rhaena has arrived in the Eyrie with the dragon eggs and Rhaenyra’s sons.
Jeyne Arryn is understandably none too pleased with receiving dragon eggs rather than a dragon rider to protect the Eeyrie.
As for Baela, her storyline this episode is more interesting, as we see her interact with Corlys, bringing him Rhaenyra’s offer to make him Hand of the Queen.
Corlys is initially incensed by this offer, probably seeing it as a means to placate him after Rhaenys’ death but Baela delivers an impassioned speech about Rhaenys and how she died as she would have wished.
Before Baela departs, Corlys offers to name her heir to Driftmark but she refuses in the best line of the episode, “I am blood and fire. Driftmark must pass to salt and sea.”
To be honest, I think House of the Dragon did a poor job of establishing Baela and Rhaena as characters in Season One.
With the exception of the fight with Aemond, they were pretty much just background characters, standing around while more important characters talked.
Season Two is attempting to fix this and they are succeeding, at least with Baela.
It remains to be seen if they will do so with Rhaena but I do have concerns about that, due to certain leaks which I will not get into here.
Getting back to their father, Daemon is still experiencing hallucinations at Harrenhal, with his most recent one being incredibly messed up.
Remember how I said at the beginning of this review that this episode had the most cursed moment of the whole series so far?
Well, this hallucination is that scene.
Daemon hallucinates having sex with a Targaryen woman and, for most of the scene, it is a mystery who she is.
That is, until she looks up at Daemon and says, “my favorite son.”
Just like that, all as one, the entire fandom recoiled in collective disgust.
We all know Targaryens love their incest but your own mother?
Really, Daemon?
When Viserys said that mother loved you best this was not what he meant!
Joking aside, I do struggle to see the point of this scene other than sheer shock value.
It just feels like the writers wanted to gross us out here.
Or maybe they saw it as a way to hint that Alys is possibly behind Daemon’s hallucinations, since she brings up his mother in a later scene?
Still, they could have gone about it in a less disturbing way.
To be fair to Daemon, though, this hallucination plays out more like a nightmare, so it is not like he actually wanted to have sex with his mother… at least I hope not.
Well, typing all of this is up has left me feeling pretty dirty so I am going to move on to the Greens again now.
With Aegon in a coma, the Green Council sets about naming the titular “Regent” of the episode.
Alicent nominates herself but, come on, they were never going to elect a woman when their whole justification for making Aegon king is that a woman cannot rule.
With Cole siding against Alicent, Aemond is named regent but, rather than focus on him and his council’s tactics, the shot stays firmly focused on Alicent, who is having a breakdown as she slowly realizes what she has helped unleash.
Olivia Cooke does a fantastic job in this scene.
She really brings Alicent’s horror to life.
This is a horror much of King’s Landing is experiencing, as many are attempting to flee the city because of food shortages and the fear of retribution for Meleys’ death.
Among those who attempt to flee are Hugh and his family, including his sick daughter, but Aemond orders the gates closed.
The last scenes with the Greens see Helaena confronting Aemond over what he did to Aegon without saying it, and a wounded Aegon calling out to his mother in his sleep… let’s just hope is dream of her is more innocent than Daemon’s.
Relax, I’m kidding.
Aemond is not the only prince making moves because, with Baela’s encouragement, Jace begins negotiating with the Freys, who are just as conniving as their descendants in Game of Thrones, hundreds of years later.
The Freys want Harrenhal, and Jace seems more than willing to meet this demand.
Although, since Simon Strong currently holds Harrenhal, I imagine he will have a few problems with this.
Yet, he does not command a strong force so, if he does turn traitor because of it, I do not imagine it will have that big of an impact for the Blacks.
What will have a big impact, however, is Daemon’s encouragement of war crimes.
His story this episode ends with him being confronted by a bunch of lords and ladies about the atrocities committed by the Blackwoods at his direction.
Despite Daemon building himself up as a King the whole episode, the results of his actions really prove how terrible he would be as one.
Unless the lord Rhaenyra sent to access Daemon can help somehow, I really do not see how Daemon can spin this whole mess in a positive way.
Speaking of Rhaenyra, she is enacting plans of her own, as she sends one of her handmaidens into King’s Landing to meet with Dyana for a currently unknown purpose.
The episode then ends with her and Jace deciding to find the descendants of Targaryens and Valyrians, and enlist them to their cause as dragon riders.
This storyline is my favorite part of the entire Dance so I am excited to see it finally being adapted.
I hope the show does it justice.
As for “Regent” it is another good episode.
Some of it is questionable, namely the whole Daemon sleeping with his mother hallucination but, otherwise, it does a decent job of building up to future storylines.

Book Spoilers Section:
Going into this episode, I was excited to see Corlys’ reaction to Rhaenys’ death.
In the book, he blames Rhaenyra, lashing out in his grief.
Unfortunately, we did not get this scene, as we just see him mourning alone.
As I said, Steve Toussaint does a great job portraying this grief, but it was a bit disappointing to not see this scene from the book.
That being said, the show already seems to be building to one of the most impactful moments of Fire and Blood, which is the storming of the Dragon Pit.
The Small Folk realizing that the godlike dragons are “just meat” will undoubtedly lead to this dark event in future seasons.
Another bit from the book which was built up this episode was the meeting between Alys and Aemond.
Daemon tells Alys she should pray she never meets him because he will kill her.
It is kind of funny to know, as a book reader, how wrong Daemon is because Aemond will actually take her as a lover.
In the next few episodes, we will definitely be seeing the Dragon Seed storyline play out.
Addam will claim Seasmoke, as foreshadowed by him seeing the dragon fly overhead a few episodes ago.
I wonder what will motivate to do so, and I am also curious to see if him claiming Sheepstealer will confirm Laenor has died?
As for the other two Dragon Seeds, Hugh and Ulf, I have a pretty good idea of their reasoning for becoming dragon riders.
Ulf has already revealed himself to be a Black loyalist with his boasting in Episode Three.
As for Hugh, his reason for joining is probably going to be way more tragic.
His daughter appears to be on the brink of death when he and his family try to flee King’s Landing.
She will most likely die, and Hugh will want revenge, blaming the Greens for aid not arriving as promised and for locking them in the city.
So that is three out of four Dragon Seeds but, as I have probably repeated ad nauseam in these reviews, Nettles has most likely been cut for Rhaena who will claim Sheepstealer in the next few episodes, to my displeasure.
However, Rhaena claiming Sheepstealer may not be the only issue I have with the next few episodes because there is another weird leak going around.
This leak claims that Rhaenyra and Mysaria will kiss.
If this happens, it will be absolutely bizarre because, while the scenes between the two are good, I have not felt a single hint of romantic or sexual tension.
Although, given that this leak is so bizarre, there is always the possibility that it is a troll.
Or, who knows, maybe the kiss will make sense in context, if it does happen?
In any case, I am still excited to see Addam, Hugh and Ulf claim their dragons so there is that to look forward to.

Chainsaw Man Episode Five, Gun Devil Review: Manipulative Makima.

Mappa’s adaptation of Chainsaw Man is still going strong with its fifth episode, “Gun Devil.”
Directed by Yōsuke Takada, “Gun Devil” begins by immediately following up the cliffhanger from Episode Four, where Power confronted Denji in the bathroom to follow through on her promise to let him fondle her breasts three times.
From Denji’s thoughts declaring Power “an angel”, you would think that this would satisfy him completley.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for Denji.
First, Power is humourously revealed to be wearing breast pads after the first squeeze and then the other two squeezes produce nothing special for Denji, leaving him to wonder “that’s it?”
Denji’s emotionally stunted reaction continues into the next day, leaving him in the perfect state to be manipulated by Makima.
She all but seduces him, biting his finger and allowing him to touch her own breast.
Denji’s reaction to this is particularly hilarious, as he falls to the ground with a hand over his heart, gasping as he looks up at the hand Makima had allowed him to touch her with.
If you showed this short clip to anyone out of context, they would believe Denji was having a heart attack.
Instead, he is freaking out because he touched Makima’s breast.
Now having gained Denji’s full attention, Makima moves in for the kill, offering him any one wish he wants if he kills the Gun Devil for her.
Makima is pretty devious in her manipulation of Denji, using sexual attraction to manipulate him into taking on a dangerous Devil.
We then see just how dangerous this Devil is in a flashback.
After a terrorist attack in America involving guns (because of course it would be in America), guns became feared, making the Gun Devil incredibly powerful.
It then struck around the world, killing 1.2 million people.
Among these victims were Aki’s family.
We see the flashback from his point of view, as he has a snowball fight with his little brother, before sending him back to get a baseball glove.
Aki’s house is then struck by the Gun Devil, killing his parents and little brother.
This creates immense guilt for Aki, since he sent his little brother into the house, and also creates his drive to kill the Gun Devil, which we see when he and Himeno take down a Devil to retrieve flesh of the Gun Devil.
Makima explains to Denji that these flesh parts make other Devils stronger and can help lead to the Gun Devil.
So, Denji’s goal is to kill the Devils that have consumed pieces of the Gun Devil, which will eventually lead him to it and, upon killing it, will allow him to ask any wish of Makima.
If he survives fighting the Gun Devil, that is.
Still, Denji is determined to win his wish from Makima, completley ignorant to how he is being used by her.
It is not long before Denji gets his first chance to take on a Devil which has consumed flesh of the Gun, as he, Power, Aki, Himeno, Kobeni and Arai are sent to a hotel to take out such a Devil.
Following some comedic beats between Denji, Power and Aki, Himeno starts joking around, offering a kiss to anyone who kills the Devil.
Denji, however, remembers his wish for Makima so refuses, saying he has to kill the Gun Devil for her, drawing Aki’s attention.
Himeno is prodded further by Denji’s refusal, offering to kiss him with tounge,
This promise causes Denji to forget all about his Makima wish, as he runs down the hotel hallway to fight the Devil and earn his kiss, with Arai running behind to stop him.
Aki and Himeno use this time to discuss their new recruits, with Himeno commenting that Arai is not very competant yet is motivated, while Kobeni is timid but talented.
This causes Aki to remember his first meeting with Himeno and we see a very different person from the seemingly upbeat woman Himeno was previously.
The man who trained Aki introduces them at a Devil Hunter graveyard, where Himeno reveals that Aki will be her sixth partner, telling him not to die like the others.
The shot composition for this moment is great, as Himeno’s position and posture in the flashback when she tells Aki not to die is the exact same as in the present.
Going back to that present, the group finally locate the Devil they were hunting, which is just a head with two feet attatched.
It lunges at Kobeni but is stopped in the air by Himeno and then taken out in bloody fashion by Power.
As expected, Power’s narcissism drives her to believe the Devil froze in midair because it was afraid of her, so Himeno explains that it stopped because Himeno used the Ghost Devil’s power.
In exchange for this power, Himeno gave the Ghost Devil her right eye.
Power questions the logic of Himeno telling her all about her power, threatening Kobeni, only for Himeno to reveal this as a non-issue by threatening to strangle Power with the Ghost Devil’s hand.
Due to the dead Devil not creating any reaction from the Gun Devil flesh, the group decide this is not the Devil they were hunting, so they go up the stairs to search the ninth floor… only to emerge onto the eighth floor.
Arai notices this and runs back down the stairs, quickly emerging at the top of the eighth floor stairs, confirming to everyone that they are in a loop, as Kobeni timidly stammers in horror, bringing an end to the episode with the next ED, “In the Back Room” by Syoudo.
Overall, “Gun Devil” is another solid Chainsaw Man episode, with plenty of funny moments and excellent animation throughout.
Some of the shot composition was also great and, as for the story, Chainsaw Man seems to have finally introduced its main big bad of the Gun Devil.
I am looking forward to Episode Six, where we will see the explanation for why our characters are stuck on the eighth floor.

Manga Spoilers:
Okay, now that I am in the spoiler section, I can stop acting like the Gun Devil is the big bad.
The story does a great job with the misdirect, however, as it is introduced through Makima, the true antagonist of Chainsaw Man Part One.
It was also nice to get out introduction to Kishibe this episode, though he is not named.
Kishibe is one of my favourites from the manga so I am looking forward to seeing more of him, and Kenjiro Tsuda was definitley a great choice to voice him.
Another interesting detail in the episode is the first instance of the town and country mouse story.
We see Aki’s parents read this story to his brother before their deaths and this story is important because of how it relates to Denji.
Denji was a “country mouse”, living a life in squalor, wishing for bigger things.
So, he became the “town mouse” moving to the city and becoming a Devil Hunter for a better life, despite the extreme danger of the job.
The symbolism of this story will be further explored when we eventually get to the Bomb Girl Arc, which will introduce Reze.
We will probably have to wait for the next season to see this, though, since I think this one is only supposed to have twelve episodes.
If the high quality of animation continues, however, you certainly will not hear me complaining.

House of the Dragon Episode Five, We Light the Way Review: The Green Wedding.

After directing the fantastic episode “King of the Narrow Sea”, Clare Kilner returns to direct Episode Five of House of the Dragon, “We Light the Way.”
The episode begins by answering one of the questions I have had ever since reading Fire and Blood, which is what caused the death of Daemon’s wife, Rhea Royce?
In the book, George R.R Martin writes that she died after falling from her horse, however, this always seemed quite a bit convenient for Daemon, so I wondered if he had a hand in it.
“We Light the Way” confirms Daemon’s involvement, depicting him arriving at the Vale in secret, scaring Rhea’s horse, causign her to fall and become paralyzed.
Daemon then bashes her head in with a rock, off screen.
What makes this murder disturbing is how, much like in the battle with the Crab Feeder in Episode Three, Daemon does not speak a single word.
This adds a level of unpreditability to his actions.
Whenever Daemon is silent is when you need to be truly afraid of him.
As for how he scared the horse to throw Rhea off, one interesting theory I have heard is that the horse was scared of Daemon because it could smell Caraxes on him.
We know riders do smell of their dragons after riding, as Rhanerya is told a few times in Episode One.
Another interesting detail is Rhea Royce’s last words, as she mocks Daemon for not being able to “finish.”
In the moment, it seems she is talking about him holding off on murdering her but the subtext appears to imply that she is actually referencing Daemon’s impotence.
In Episode Four, he could not have sex with Rhanerya because he was put off when she began to take control.
Could this be part of the reason he hated Rhea so much?
As for Daemon potentially holding off on killing Rhea, it does seem he is leaving her to die, before Rhea insults him, after which he decides to kill her with the rock.
We do not know if this was his train of thought, however, due to his silence.
I like how the show is portraying the ambiguity of Daemon’s thoughts so far.
It was also sad to see Rhea go as the actress, Rachel Redford, did a good job in her scene.
After the murder, the scene quite literally cuts, as it transitions from Daemon about to kill Rhea to a chef cutting off a fish’s head, implying Rhea’s death.
The scene is now on a ship, where Viserys, Rhanerya and their entourage, are travelling to Driftmark to offer Corlys a marriage between his son Laenor and Rhanerya.
With Otto’s dismissal as Hand of the King, the job has been passed on to Lyonel Strong, a good choice, considering he is the only one in the King’s Council who does not give advice for personal gain.
As for Otto, we get a scene of his departure, with Alicent attempting to apologise for him being removed as Hand, which she caused by telling Rhanerya of his spying.
She says she believes Rhanerya’s claim that nothing happened with Daemon, to which Otto berates her for, telling his daughter that she is no fool but she refuses to see the truth.
He warns her that to become queen Rhanerya will have to kill Alicent’s children, even though she has shown no sign of ever thinking this.
Yet, despite all the manipulation he has put her through, Otto does seem to genuinely love his daughter but does not know how to express it.
His final words to Alicent do leave an impact, however, as we will see later.
For now, Alicent is also influenced by Lyonel’s son Larys, who sneakily informs her of the tea Rhanerya was sent by Viserys to prevent a pregnancy, increasing her doubts.
Meanwhile, Viserys and his entourage finally reach Driftmark but are made to walk to see Corlys, a sign of disrespect from the Sea Snake.
Corlys knows where to pull his punches, though, as he bends the knee when Viserys stands before him.
Rhaneys then arrives and she and her husband announce the death of Rhea, talking about it as if it were an accident, yet it is clear that none of them believe it.
Viserys proposes the marriage between Rhanerya and Laenor, and Corly’s continues to push boundaries, seeking power for his family, wondering if the children they have will bear the name Velaryon.
Viserys concedes this but is adamant that the child who takes the throne after Rhanerya shall be named Targaryen, to which Corlys accepts, agreeing to the marriage pact.
As this arrangement is taking place, Rhanerya and Laenor walk on the beach and come to their own arrangement.
Rhanerya is aware of Laenor’s sexuality so subtly sugests that they marry but then take what lovers they wish, to which Laenor also agrees.
Corlys is in a state of denial about this, however, believing that Laenor will grow out of his preference for men, showing the time that Westeros is stuck in (although that is not saying much since this attitude can be seen today, unfortunately).
On a lighter note, it is funny to see Corlys be so assertive in his negotiation with Viserys and then become more uncertain around Rhaenys, showing his vulnerabilities to her, as he wonders if he pushed Viserys too far.
They truly are one of the happier couples in Westeros.
This happy mood turns darker, however, as Rhaenys points out that Rhanerya’s succession will be challenged, due to her gender, putting Laenor’s life and the lives of any children he has with Rhanerya at risk.
Corlys vows to protect them, leadsingto him saying that Rhaenys should have been queen but Rhaenys tells him she has got over the loss and so should he.
This was a great scene between the couple, with a few interesting details, like the Crab Feeder’s mask on display.
It is followed up by a scene with another couple, as we meet Laenor’s lover ser Joffrey Lonmouth (Solly McLeod), the Knight of Kisses
Their relationship is quite healthy, like Corlys and Rhaenys’, as Joffrey is accepting of Laenor’s position and wishes to protect him when he becomes Rhanerya’s king consort.
This is paralleled by the less than healthy relationship between Rhanerya and Criston.
The Kingsguard confronts Rhanerya on their return to Kings’ Landing about their affair, wanting to run away and start a new life with her.
Rhanerya obviously refuses, given the responsibility Viserys has placed on her shoulders with the knowledge about the White Walkers.
She even seems to be about to tell Criston about this, before he interrupts her.
What Criston says shows the unhealthy state of their relationship, since Criston’s main reason for asking Rhanerya to run away with him was so he could regain his own honour after breaking his vow of chastity with her, as the white cloak he wears is the only thing to his name.
Criston’s inner turmoil is put on further display when Alicent calls for him to talk after reaching King’s Landing.
So great is it that he misinterprets Alicent’s questions about Daemon and Rhanerya to be about himself and Rhanerya and admits to their affair.
He even begs her to have him merely put to death, rather than gelded and tortured.
Emily Carey’s face during this plea shows a wide range of emotions, chief among them a feeling of betrayal against Rhanerya, as her worst fears are confirmed.
She is probably thinking of Otto’s warning in this moment and deciding where her loyalties lie.
As this talk is happening, Viserys is having his own with Lyonel after being treated by the Maesters.
Viserys reflects over his life and wonders what the people will say of him after he is gone, since he was never a conqueror.
Lyonel views this as a positive thing, since he continued Jaehaerys’ peace,
As a book reader, it is interesting to see this scene and know how Viserys is remembered, not only by the people of Westeros but by book readers.
I will leave that for the spoiler section, though.
Speaking of Viserys, the guy looks pretty terrible in this scene and I have seen numerous reactors believe that he died here, until he is shown later.
The make-up department for this show is doing an excellent job at detailing the progression of Viserys’ mysterious illness, which Paddy Considine has said is actually a form of Leprosy.
The shot fades away from Viserys’ sickened face to Kings’ Landing on the day of the wedding celebrations.
Laenor and Rhaenys both arrive on their dragons, Sea Smoke and Meleys, the Red Queen.
After this, we see the procession of noble guests gretting Viserys and Rhanerya, including Jason Lannister being a prideful jerk again, and Rhea’s cousin Gerold (Owen Oakeshott), who accepts condolences for Rhea’s death.
The Velaryons then arrive, quickly followed by Daemon, who swaggers in unnannounced.
Viserys reluctantly welcomes him, wordlessly offering him a chair at the table.
Daemon, likewise, does not speak, again making us wonder what his intentions are.
Viserys then begins a grand speech about the future of Targaryen rule, only to be interrupted by the best moment in the episode, as Alicent arrives in a green dress, Ramin Djawadi’s excellent score serving as her entrance.
As a book reader, this was such an exciting moment to see.
The enormity of this moment is translated to show only viewers by Larys, who informs his brother Harwin that the green colour of Alicent’s dress is symbolising her house calling its banners to war.
After Alicent’s dramatic entrance, the celebration continues, with Joffrey noticing Criston eyeing Rhanerya, and Gerold Royce confronting Daemon about Rhea’s murder.
It does not go how he planned, however, as Daemon announces his intention to inherit Rhea’s lands, before going down to join the dancing.
He dances with Laena Velaryon (Savannah Steyn) for a bit, who shows quite an interest in him, before moving on to Rhanerya.
Daemon makes another play for Rhanerya’s hand but she is dismissive of him this time, goading him into stealing her away, which she appears to know he will not do.
While this is happening, Joffrey has a talk with Criston, suggesting they take a vow to protect Laenor and Rhanerya because, if they stay safe, so do they all.
Whether Criston sees this as blackmail, is disgusted because he sees himself in Joffrey, or a combination of the two, the end result is the same.
Criston attacks Joffrey and proceeds to beat him to death in front of dozens of noble witnesses, also assaulting Laenor, while Rhanerya has to be saved by Harwin.
This scene has resulted in a lot of questions about how exactly Criston got away with murdering a knight in front of everyone.
An argument could be made for Alicent speaking up for him but we do not see this happen.
Criston murdering Joffrey in front of everyone is actually a change from the book, where he killed him in a tourney, so he had the excuse that it was an accident.
The change raises the plot hole of how Criston got away with it, so I do wish the murder had been done differently to have Criston going unpunished make more sense.
As least the acting is great here, with Theo Nate’s grief stricken cries over Joffrey being especially tragic.
You cannot have a Westerosi wedding without at least one death, after all, or it is considered a dull affair.
I say we call this one the Green Wedding, after Alicent’s dress reveal.
After the night’s horrifying events, Viserys decides to marry Rhanerya and Laenor right away, celebrations be damned.
Viserys collapses during the wedding, showing just how sick he is getting.
Before this happens, Criston goes outside to commit suicide, only to be stopped by Alicent who, presumably, wants to form an alliance with him.
It looks like Rhanerya is going to regret naming him to the Kingsguard, after all.
Out of all five episodes, I would say that “We Light the Way” is my second favourite, behind “King of the Narrow Sea.”
My only issue is that Criston getting away with murdering Joffrey is a plot hole.
Otherwise this was a great episode and an excellent farewell to Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, who both did a terrific job playing a young Rhanerya and Alicent.

Book Spoiler Section:
About Viserys’ legacy, it was interesting to think about this when the king himself worried about how he would be remembered.
Unfortunately for him, I do not think he is remembered all that well.
Yes, his rule was peaceful but it was the precursor to the Dance of the Dragons, something which started in part because of Viserys’ complacancy.
It makes sense why he was this way, given how he likely wanted Weteroes to be peaceful so they could be united when the White Walkers eventually attacked.
But good intentions do not always result in good things happening and, especially the world of Westeroes.
Bad intentioned actions are the same as well, for Daemon’s efforts to claim Runestone will be for nothing, since Jeyne Arryn will refuse his request.
As for Alicent and Criston, it was interesting to finally see what turned them both against Rhanerya and I think it makes a lot of sense for the both of them.
They will now become huge problems for Rhanerya and it was interesting to see how that played out ten years later in the following episode, “The Princess and the Queen.”

Spy x Family, Episode Five, Will They Pass or Will They Fail? Review: The Perfect Filler.

Filler episodes: The kind of episode that many people will not be excited to watch.
These are ones that could usually be removed from the story entirely, changing nothing in doing so, often making them less than stellar experiences.
However, occasionally, there will be one filler episode that gets it right and delivers a satisfying and engaging experience, despite not being relevant to the plot.
Well, I think that the fifth episode of Spy x Family, “Will They Pass or Will They Fail?” is the perfect filler episode.
What makes it truly great, though, is not just how satisying it is but how it also excellently makes changes to the manga.
The castle party was relatively brief and small scale in the manga, yet the anime crafts a wholesome adventure for the Forger family to have after they learn Anya has been accepted into Eden College.
Directed by Kenji Takahasi, the episode opens with the build up to Anya’s acceptance, as we see the Forgers heading to see the results, only for Yor’s braclet to break, after which they see a black cat, and then Anya notices she has stepped in poop.
These bad signs seem to foreshadow the family’s downfall, as the cliffhanger before the OP shows the Forgers realizing they have not passed the admission, only for Henderson to explain the circumstances to them afterwards.
It turns out that Anya is just on the waiting list, so she is on the verge of being accepted.
Twilight is confused that they passed after he smashed a table in front of Swan, however Henderson humorously reveals he was scored highly for that because he smashed a mosquito as well, since mosquitos are the most dangerous creature on the planet to humans.
So now, all Anya needs is one of the students to withdraw and she will be accepted into the College.
Cue Yor briefly wondering if she should murder one of the student’s parents to get Anya into the College, before immediately dismissing this as she couldn’t possibly kill an innocent person.
This gag does result in another characteristically comedic expression from Anya, though.
After this, the Forgers don’t have to wait long before they learn Anya was accepted, resulting in a crazy celebration, spearheaded by good old Franky.
All of this craziness starts with him and Yor getting so drunk to the point that Yor doesn’t hear Franky admit to stealing the answers to the exam for Loid to teach Anya, eventually building to Franky telling Anya that Twilight said he would give her anything for getting accepted.
What Anya wants, it turns out, is to recreate her favourite spy show, Bondman, by having Twilight rescue her from a castle.
Twilight is reluctant until Franky guilt trips him into doing it, resulting in the excellent filler portion of the show, with the familt renting the castle and flying in, before Twilight calls many of his spy associates to help with this “mission,” many of whom are excited to learn from him.
Anya and Franky then enact their plan to stage a Bondman experience for Anya, with Anya being the princess kidnapped by the evil Franky, who Twilight needs to save as Loidman, while Yor is “whatever” according to Anya.
The game begins with Loidman tracking Anya and Franky down to a quiz section where he has to answer three questions about Anya.
If he loses, he has to put on the Loidman mask.
Loid fails in the end, quite comedically as he is outraged that he lost because he didn’t realize Anya wanted a drink of water.
So now Twilight has to wear the Loidman costume, much to his embarrassment.
But at least it results in Anya adorably declaring how excited she is to see her father portray her favourite television spy.
With moments like this, it’s pretty apparent we will be losing count of how many adorable and memeable moments of Anya there are in this anime.
Next comes a well animated action sequence of Loidman fighting through his fellow spies to reach Anya and Franky, with a pretty great OST playing alongside this animation.
However, the game is not over when Loidman reaches the Princess Anya because the most powerful witch in the world, Yorticia (drunk Yor), is here to kick Loidman’s butt!
Seeing their little fight was great, as it made me excited for what we might get if Twilight and Yor were ever to come to blows in the future of the story.
The fight also ends with a laugh, as Yor’s heel breaks, causing her to pass out drunk, leaving Twilight to deal with Franky.
How will he ever overcome such an evil foe?
Well, with a simple slap obviously, cause Franky isn’t a fighter.
In the end, Loidman rescues the Princess Anya, resulting in Anya promising him that she will work hard at school, bringing an end to this filler part of the story.
And what amazing filler it was.
Seriously, if you have not read the manga, then I recommend reading Chapter Six to see just how much they added in this episode.
Pretty much everything from the moment the game started up until Twilight reached Anya, Yor and Franky was anime original.
Even the final scene is different from the manga, with the humor of Twilight’s boss realizing how much money was spent on this “mission” being delivered a lot better, in my opinion.
Overall, I would say that “Will They Pass or Will They Fail?” is probably my favourite episode of Spy x Family so far because of how much fun it was with all of the new content.
Wit Studio and Cloverworks are clearly putting everything they have into this adaptation and it makes me even more excited for future episodes, especially the next one where we will get the ultimate Anya meme face.
So, get ready for the “heh” next episode.

The Wheel of Time, Episode Five, Blood Calls Blood Review: A Fantastic Easter Egg.

If I were to rank the Wheel of Time episodes we have so far, then Episode Five, “Blood Calls Blood,” would be one of the weaker episodes, only above the first episode “Leavetaking.”
I did enjoy “Blood Calls Blood,” it’s just that the episode is a bit of a mixed bag for me, containing many fantastic moments but also many questionable moments.
Directed by Salli Richardson-Whitefield, the episode begins with the aftermath of the brilliant Episode Four, “The Dragon Reborn,” with the Aes Sedai and their Warders mourning not just their fallen but also the fallen in Logain’s army, including the king he brought to his side.
The main focus, however, is definitely on Stepin, who is wracked with grief over the death of Kerene, as he buries her and removes her ring.
Although, in the first sign of some of the issues this episode would have later on, it is weird how shallow the graves are.
That said, there are also many good parts to this scene, along with the display Stepin’s grief, like Nynaeve tugging her braid, a moment show only fans will probably not take much note of but, for book readers, it is a nice touch for her character in the novels.
As well as this, the weather itself is also a great part of this scene, showing how much time is passing, taken even further with how the episode cuts to a month later after the opening credits.
What’s more, many of the characters also display signs of how much time has passed, specifically with Rand and Perrin, as their hair has grown considerably in the month timeskip.
Not only this, but all three groups of main characters have now made their way to the White Tower.

The CGI for Tar Valon and Dragonmount is great.

Moiraine’s group arrives without issue, except for Nynaeve still creating trouble for Moiraine by telling her she should be careful of her.
Yet, the arrival is much grimmer for Rand and Mat, because Mat’s condition is still deteriorating, with him being scared that he may have actually killed that family at the farm, but Rand insists he did not.
Sadly, though, if Rand and Mat’s situation is bad, then Perrin and Egwene’s is 100 times worse, as they are captured by Valda and the White Cloaks, probably the last group of people you want to be captured by… well, at least of the groups we have been introduced to so far.
Back to Egwene and Perrin, the Tinker’s try to help them escape, with Aram leading the way, but the White Cloaks are brutally efficient in their capture of them.
We then go from a scene of chaos to a scene of calm, as Rand is investigating a library at the inn they are staying at, when he is confronted by a kind hearted Ogier named Loial, another fan favourite from the books.
Now, I’ll be honest, I saw some leaked images for Loial long before I saw this episode and I was not impressed.
The practical effects just made him look too cheesy.
That said, I really should have waited to see him in motion before I judged because, after watching Loial’s scenes in “Blood Calls Blood,” I actually think he looks pretty good.
Certainly not how I or many others probably imagined him, but good.
Then there’s his actor, Hammed Animashaun, who knocks it completely out of stedding.
As soon as he started talking, I was like, “well, there’s another example of perfect casting in this show.”

I cannot wait to see more of this version of Loial.

Seriously, the casting director deserves a raise for how amazing of a job they did choosing actors to play these characters.
Loial’s charming nature also works a lot like Thom’s did in Episodes Three and Four.
In those episodes, his personality allowed him to deliver exposition in a way that did not feel like we were being spoken down to, and Loial does exactly this.
He even brings up how Rand looks like an Aeilman, the group of people whose culture Thom introduced to us in “A Place of Saftey.”
But this pleasant conversation is interrupted when Loial informs Rand they are bringing the defeated Logain to show to the people, and Rand sees Mat going to look.
He chases after his friend, eventually finding him looking at the scene from a balcony, only for Logain to look right at Mat and burst into manic laughter.
This causes Mat to try and make a deal with Rand, saying one will kill the other if they ever start channeling.
It is at this point, that I have to mention the easter eggs in Rand and Mat’s storyline because, oh blood and bloody ashes, were these amazing.
I’ll go into more detail about what these easter eggs were in the spoiler section so not to spoil any potential show only viewers that may read this, but know that they are by far my favourite moment of the episode.
It is an incredible showcase of subtlety.
Following this scene between Rand and Mat, we go back to the White Tower, where Stepin is preparing for the ceremony to send off Kerene.
He tells the story of his past and how it lead to meeting Kerene in a tragic performance from Peter Franzen.
We then see the actual ceremony, where Stephin kisses Kerene’s ring and then melts it in a flaming pit overlooking the city.
Once this ceremony is over, Lan goes to Moiraine, stroking her ring and showing just how deep the Warder bond goes.

The Stepin storyline teaches us a lot about a Warder’s bond with their Aes Sedai.

However, this touching scene then cuts to a grim one as Egwene is stipped by the Whitecloaks, scrubbed down and redressed in a violating scene, that shows the sickness of Valda, as he has her tied to a chair and Perrin tied down over a board.
Valda’s intuition is unfortunately sharp, as he deduces Egwene is not an Aes Sedai through her lying, but still knows she can channel.
So, he begins to cruely torture Perrin in front of her, telling her he will kill him if she does not channel and kill her if she can, leaving the decision of who dies to them.
It is during this brutal torture, that we also get a glimpse of Perrin’s abilities, as his eyes glow golden, before Valda leaves them.

Really liking the look of Perrin’s golden eyes here.

The episode then leaves them temporarily to cut to Nynaeve, who is greeted by Stepin asking for something to help him sleep.
When it is actually revealed what Stepin intends to do with this sleeping medicine, the scene becomes much more chilling on rewatch but, on first viewing, it merey serves as a means for these two characters to bond, and for Nynaeve to be allowed a way out.
She is quickly confronted by Liandrin with her scheming but Nynaeve is naturally still resistant to her manipulations.
Up until this point, the episode is great, with many standout moments, like Loial’s introduction, the easter eggs during Rand and Mat’s storyline, and the gruesome display of Valda’s brutality against Perrin and Egwene.
However, it is here that we get the first of the problems that bring “Blood Calls Blood” down for me.
The first of these problems is the scene after Nynaeve and Liandrin’s encounter, which sees Loial lead Nynaeve to Rand and Mat.
The reason this scene does not work for me is because of how abrupt it is.
Nynaeve is exploring the tower in one scene, and in the next she has been taken to Rand and Mat.
It is like there was an entire scene of Nynaeve meeting Loial that was cut.
At least it does lead to a further display of Mat’s corruption when he violently pushes Nynaeve awat, and we also get Nynaeve’s touching story of how Egwene pulled through from a deadly infection, potentially hinting at how she first began to channel.
What follows is the the next scene of Perrin and Egwene, which is equal parts fantastic and badly shot.
To be fair, the fantastic stuff does come first, with some excellent acting from Marcus Rutherford and Madeleine Madden, as Perrin confesses to accidentally killing his wife, in an attempt to get Egwene to agree with his decision to sacrifice himself.
I may still feel conflicted about the whole Perrin killing his wife storyline but Rutherford’s acting really sold this moment.

This was an emotional moment from Perrin.

Egwene then uses her chanelling to free Perrin while distracting Valda, causing Perrin to lunge forward, eyes pure golden, as wolves howl around them.
Valda is naturally terrified of Perrin, allowing Egwene the chance to break free and stab the Questioner.
The two then run outside and it is here that the bad shots unfortunately come into play.
I thought the shots of the wolves in “A Place of Saftey” were pretty bad and these ones are much the same, with constant cuts to try and hide the miniature size of the wolves, making the whole action scene look like a bad made for TV movie.
This really sticks out like a sore thumb when the rest of the episode is so well made.
On a more interesting note, though, Egwene has taken back the rings Valda stole from the Aes Sedai he murdered so that is a plus, since it should be able to get them into the White Tower.
Speaking of the tower, inside we see more of Linadrin’s scheming, this time against Moiraine, but Liandrin should have known this would not turn out in her favor.
Then we see Lan observing Stepin performing a ritual to ward off the evil of the Foresaken, people who served the Dark One, including Ishamael.
There seems to be eight of these Foresaken, and they were all sealed away by the previous Dragon.

It will be interesting to see which of the Foresaken from the books are kept and which are removed.

Following this, we see Moiraine talking with Alanna, as she is worried about dying and leaving Lan without her.
Alanna reassures her but points out they have bigger things to worry about, like the Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche, wanting blood for them gentling Logain without a trial.
Moiraine assures her the situation is under control, but between the Amyrin and Liandrin, Alanna is concerned.
We then get the scene right before disaster, as Lan drinks with Steppin, who questions him about Nynaeve’s obvious feelings for him.
Lan naturally resists such ideas, which is perfectly in character for him at this point.
Stepin is supportive, however, saying that without it life is intolerable.
These words take on so much more meaning when Lan discovers Stepin has killed himself the next morning after drugging him.
It was Stepin’s final goodbye to Lan, encouraging him to embrace Nynaeve’s feelings.
Then comes the final scene of the episode, the funeral for Stepin, where Lan is given the role of expressing everyone’s grief, in a wonderful display of custom for the show.
Both Rosamund Pike and Daniel Henney’s acting during this scene make it very emotional, and really drew me into the scene.
Many are unsure about it because of how stoic Lan was in the books compared to this but I think it works… until the last show.
That last damn shot.
As Lan is weeping, he suddenly rips open his robe, baring his chest in such a melodramatic moment that it made me laugh out loud.
He looked like a rock star baring his chest to make the fans go wild or something.
It ruined the moment.

This was the moment I went from feeling sad to laughing my head off.

If the episode had ended before this shot, the scene would have been great but, unfortunately, they decided to include this over dramatic moment, ending the episode on an unintentionally hilarious moment rather than the emotional one they were going for.
It is scenes like this, Nynaeve’s abrupt arrival, and the cheesy shot composition of Perrin and Egwene’s escape that really brought this episode down for me.
Still, the rest of the episode is legitimaely great and I have heard rumors that the next one, which I have not watched yet, is one of the best of the season so I have that to look forward to.

Book Spoiler Section:

Alright, so let’s talk about those fantastic Padan Fain easter eggs.
I remember watching the scene where Logain is paraded through the streets, hearing laughter, and then briefly seeing Padan Fain sleeking off before the shot cut.
Que a moment of panic from me as I quickly fast forward back to see if I had seen that right and, sure enough, there he is, hidden in the background.
He even appears in an earlier shot when Rand and Mat are entering the inn, whistling his chilling tune as he watches them.
I love how they are subtly pointing to Fain’s pursuit of Rand, rather than making it obvious, like it kind of was in the first book.
It makes me hopeful for Fain’s future in the show as well, since he became a weak antagonist for me after the Great Hunt.

Seeing this Padan Fain cameo made me lose my mind.

As for another antagonist, Valda, I found his portrayal interesting.
I had heard theories that he would be merged with the Darkfriend White Cloak Carridin, but his speech about the Light to Egwene while he is torturing Perrin makes me think that is unlikely.
Another thing I loved was how the show is continuing to misdirect show only viewers about the identity of the Dragon Reborn.
They’ll see Logain laughing while the focus is on Mat and think he is the Dragon Reborn, and won’t realise that Logain was actually laughing at Rand until later.
Rand also saying he recognises Dragon Mount was a nice touch.
As for Stepin’s scenes, these moments are entirely show original, and I quite liked what they did for the world building by showcasing the bond between an Aes Sedai and her Warder, which we will hopefully see more of when we get to Moiraine’s sacrifice, whenever “The Fires of Heaven” is adapted.
There’s also the mention of the Foresaken, foreshadowing their arrival, which I am also excited for.
However, there are only eight of them instead of thirteen from the looks of things, so some of them will most likely be merged together.
Along with Ishamael I can clearly recognise Graendal, Semirhage and Asmodean, among a few others, so it will be interesting to see which Foresaken makes the cut in the future of the show.
Overall, the book changes and divergances were quite good this episode, despite “Blood Calls Blood’s” issues.

The Promised Neverland, Season Two, Episode Five Review: I Regret My Optimism.

Well, I really jinxed myself by saying I was optimistic after The Promised Neverland Season Two, Episode Four, didn’t I?
The third episode of this second season made me really concerned with the direction the story was going, with all the important cuts, including my favourite character being completley gone.
Then Episode Four happened and I began to regain some hope.
Sure, there were things that were handled rather poorly, like the laughably incompetant soldiers, but brand new scenes, like Isabella being recrutied to hunt the children, made me optomistic about where this anime original storyline could go.
However, Episode Five has now come out and, wow, did it drop the ball.
Directed by Takahiro Harada, the episode picks up a full year after the last one.
That’s right, we have skipped a year immediately after the children escaped the bunker and now they are living in the demon world.
How did they survive so long with all of the intelligent demons, wild demons, and armed humans hunting them down?
Good question because the anime offers absolutley no explanation.
See, this is why skipping over 60 chapters is an incredibly bad idea because it means where you pick up the story from will make absolutley no sense and, in this episode, it makes little.
How did the children get the material to disguise themselves as demons?
How have they not been noticed before when they got so easily noticed this time?
Most importantly, how is Norman back so soon with absolutley no build up?
This last moment, which is the cliffhanger of the episode, has almost made me lose hope about the quality of the rest of the season entirely.
The build up to Norman’s reveal in the manga, with Norman acting as the new William Minerva, was absolutley fantastic.
Here, he just shows up with no setup whatsoever and it comes off as extremely anticlimactic because of this.
Also, while it’s nice to see Maaya Uchida back as Norman, it’s only been seven episodes so he hasn’t been gone long enough that his return is a surprise.
Norman’s incredibly bland return and the other plot holes created by the episode are not the only problems, unfortunately.
First of all, the time skip made the scene hyping up Isabella last episode almost pointless.
She was tasked with hunting the children and she just failed for that entire year.
I don’t think the demons would have been too happy with those results.
Also, the chase scene in this episode, which leads into Norman’s return, is pretty bad because it lacks any tension.
To be fair, there are some moments that saved the episode from being terrible, like Emma’s interaction with the blind demon and the exploration of deterioration with the two sympathetic demon children.
However, the rest of it made me very disappointed, with the numerous amount of plot holes in numerous scenes.
It honestly feels like the anime is just going to end with this second season, given how much has been completley skipped over and the direction the story is going.
It feels like it’s going the Tokyo Ghoul adaptation route and I really hope it can find some way to prove me wrong about that.
Unfortunately, next episode is supposed to be a recap episode so it looks like those hopes are probably going to be crushed.

Attack on Titan Season Four, Episode Five, Declaration of War Review: The Moment We’ve All Been Waiting For.

Chapter 100, “Declaration of War.”
Pretty much every Attack on Titan fan who has read the manga can easily recall this chapter.
I can still remember sitting in stunned silence after reading it because of what had just occurred.
So, needless to say, I was extremely excited to see one of my favorite chapters adapted in the anime.
Well, having seen it, I can say that Mappa and director Teruyuki Ōmine definitely pulled it off, providing a nail biting delivery for “Declaration of War.”
The episode starts off with a flashback to Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie’s time in the scouts, as was seen in Episode Three.
This time, we have a scene of Bertholdt wondering why the man who hung himself in the settlement chose to tell them his story before he did so, believing it was because he wanted to be judged.
At this point, the scene perfectly transitions to Reiner about to be judged by Eren, as they meet for the first time in four years.
Falco, the sweet boy, has absolutely no idea about the absolute disaster he has unintentionally caused, completely unaware as Eren subtly threatens all the people in the building above them by showing his cut hand, threatening to transform if Reiner tries anything.
From here, we see the build up to Willy’s declaration, as he is visited by the mysterious Kiyomi Azumabito from last episode, who seems to know something, given that she leaves before the festival.
Another interesting scene is between Karina and Annie’s father, where Mr Leonhart insists that his daughter is still alive, which is basically just Isayama’s way of saying, yes, Annie’s in the story, even if she’s not important right now.
The final build up scene before the performance sees Zeke, Pieck and Porco being lured away by a mysterious guard who then traps Pieck and Porco in a hole to prevent them from transforming and trying to stop whatever is about to happen.
As a manga reader, it’s been pretty fun to see fan theories about who the mysterious soldier is.
I’ve heard theories about it being Jean, Connie, and, most often, Armin who has had an extreme growth spurt.
In any case, this trapping scene is very well done, building the tension up nicely, and even providing some humor when Pieck’s panzer unit get jealous over Pieck hugging only one of them.
With the threat of enemy Titan Shifters removed, Eren can now confront Reiner in temporary peace and Willy can begin his last speech.
Down in the basement, Reiner asks Eren why he came here and Eren chillingly replies “the same reason you did” and follows this up by telling Reiner multiple times that he is “the same as you.”
This shows just how much Eren has grown over the four year time skip, going from hot headed to calm, collective, and even reflective over his situation.
He is clearly not the same arrogant character who I couldn’t stand all the way back in season one, and Yuki Kaji does a fantastic job voicing this calmer version of Eren.
Another voice actor who deserves praise for their work this episode is Kazuhiko Inoue, who does a fantastic job with delivering Willy’s lines, during his epic speech.
This voice acting, accompanying the gruesome imagery of the performance, makes for a great use of exposition that keeps the viewer engaged while being fed information.
The information Willy conveys is that the Marleyan version of history is a lie (big shock), and that The Great Titan War was actually ended by King Fritz, who conspired with the Tyber family to make a Marleyan, Helos, a hero, and then fled to Paradis Island out of guilt for what his people had done.
Willy revealing this shows how masterfully he can manipulate a crowd because first he reveals the truth, before redirecting the crowd’s anger at a new threat, Eren Jaeger.
Speaking of, Eren knows full well how much of a threat he is, admitting that he might just end up destroying the world, like Willy fears, because of the millions of Colossal Titans in the walls, which he could potentially control.
Falco is horrified that someone he trusted would use him and becomes even more terrified when he realizes the letters Eren had him send were to his “comrades.”
For now though, Eren’s attention is entirely on Reiner as he proceeds to judge him just like the opening of the episode suggested that he would.
However, this judgement is not what we might expect.
Instead of condemning Reiner, like he did in earlier seasons, Eren is shown to have become more understanding of him, as showcased by Eren telling Reiner to forget his promise to make Reiner suffer, admitting that there is good and bad people on both sides of the conflict.
This is followed by the moment that breaks Reiner completely, Eren telling him that he did what he did because he was a brainwashed kid.
Reiner refutes this entirely, falling to his knees and tearfully admitting that he pushed on with the mission to attack Paradis because he wanted to be a hero and he is to blame for Eren’s mother’s death.
Reiner’s voice actor, Yoshimasa Hosaya, did such a great job with Reiner’s tearful repentance that it almost made me cry.
Reiner’s pleas for death are then juxtaposed by Willy saying he doesn’t want to die because “he was born into this world,” and this very line that Eren’s mother spoke years ago finally draws Eren’s attention away from Reiner, as shown by the subtle widening of his eyes.
Maybe Eren is experiencing some hope that he will not have to go through with his plan?
Unfortunately, any hope Eren might have for peace is shattered because Willy follows this up by proclaiming he wants everyone to help him fight the devils of Paradis.
Accepting what he must do and that he really is the same as Reiner, Eren pulls Reiner to his feet, as we get some anime original content of soldiers approaching the basement door, ready to attack Eren.
One might think upon hearing about this scene that it is a pointless attempt at diminishing Eren’s responsibility for what comes next but, thankfully, it comes across more as a way to build tension, rather than try to justify Eren’s horrific act of violence.
And horrific it is, as Eren transforms then and there, killing who knows how many civilians and even Willy Tyber himself, crushing him with massive his fist, before throwing him in the air to be devoured, like a piece of popcorn.
This scene is just fantastic with a great use of sound and music.
That said, some manga readers took issue with the OST in this scene, 2Volt.
Some took such a disliking to this OST usage that they even harassed director Teruyuki Ōmine over it, to the point that he felt depressed.
Critique a scene all you want but if you harass the people behind that scene, you’ve gone way too far.
Personally, I feel that the music worked great and the people who dislike the scene may have had their own preconceived ideas on how the it would go, making them be inevitably disappointed when it didn’t suit their envisioned scene.
Still, even though I thought this final scene was great, there is one issue I have with the episode but it is one I am not ready to deduct points for just yet.
This issue is that there is a cut scene between Willy and Magath that is crucial to understanding both their characters’ motivations.
There is a possibility that this scene could have been moved to episode six, so if we see the scene there then this won’t be an issue, however, if it’s not there, then I think we are missing some crucial development for both these characters.
Like I said though, I am not going to be deducting any points from the episode because there is always the chance of this scene appearing in the future.
Overall, “Declaration of War” is a fantastic adaptation of one of the manga’s best chapters, delivering the point of no return for Eren brilliantly.

His Dark Materials Episode Five The Lost Boy Review: Well, This is Darker Than The Film.

Even though it has been years since I have seen The Golden Compass, I still remember some things about it.
One of those was Billy Costa being separated from his Daemon but surviving.
So, imagine my surprise when this episode of His Dark Materials, “The Lost Boy” adapted this scene, only to kill Billy off because of him being separated from Ratter.
Apparently, this is also different from the books, where it is not Billy but another character who dies.
Such a change makes the show way darker than the film by a wide margin.
Directed again by Otto Bathurst, “The Lost Boy” had many surprises in store for me like the introduction of the young Will Parry (Amir Wilson).
He comes from our world but it is stated in narration that his fate is intertwined with Lyra’s.

Will Parry.png — I was not aware that Will would play such a central role in the story and it will be interesting to see what that role is.

But, given that his father John Parry has been to the Daemon world and Boreal is watching Will and his mother, it is clear how Will will be brought into the world of Daemons.
On top of this, Will is a sympathetic character, with him having to deal with his mother Elaine’s (Nina Sosanya) mental illness on a regular basis.
However, she is clearly not as mentally ill as he thinks she is, because she does seem to know quite a bit about her husband’s life, although she hides this.
Boreal is on her and Will’s trail, though, and he has already inserted himself into their situation so I suspect this will not end well for Elaine.
As for the events in the Daemon world, the buildup to Billy’s discovery is done well, with plenty of character payoff.
I especially liked the character growth of John Faa (Lucian Msmati) who has learned to trust Lyra and her alethiometer since the events of “Armour.”
We also get another emotional scene with Farder Coram as he reunites with his old lover, the witch Serafina Pekkala (Ruta Gedmintas).
Then there is Lyra’s growing bonds with Iorek and Lee who are just as great as they were in the previous episode.
The discovery and death of Billy Costa is sad and well executed, even if it is a deviation from the original novel.

the discovery of billy.jpg — Billy Costa’s fate is very different from the film and novel, making the future of the story uncertain in how it will diverge from the source material.

The episode ends on a great cliffhanger, with Lyra being kidnapped by the Gobblers and taken to Bolvanger, where they plan to separate her from Pan permanently.
And it is because of Billy’s death that this cliffhanger works so well because his demise sets up a significant threat level for Lyra, causing many viewers, who do not know how things will turn out, to fear for her safety.
Overall, “The Lost Boy” is a solid episode of His Dark Materials.
While not as good as the previous episode “Armour” it sets up a number of plot points that should led to some great scenes in the future.