Score: B+

I won’t say this last episode was as impactful as it could’ve been. Since it actually ends right before the action kicks off. But it was effective at cementing alliances, giving a good moment for Pride/Cedric, and establishing how Pride really doesn’t value her own life even a fraction as much as those around her! In terms of leaving me with thoughts though…this episode absolutely nailed that.

Justified reaction!

Everyone losing it on Pride in this episode was utterly and completely understandable! I think to some degree everyone had relaxed from the days of her risking her life to attack bandits or any of the stuff she did in S1. She’d been pretty responsible and reasonable in this second season and since that time skip. But this episode hit home to everyone that she hasn’t changed! It’s still clear to everyone that Pride doesn’t value her life as much as they do. Pride certainly doesn’t value her life as she should. Yes, putting her life on the line for this battle was helpful in getting the people of Chinensis to agree to fight. But I’m not even sure if it was necessary. I think you could’ve sent out Cedric with his popularity and get everyone to rally. It would’ve been harder and maybe too much for Cedric, but plausible.

More justified rage!

Now, we know why she doesn’t value her life. She still sees herself as the Last Boss Queen, the evil monster who did all those things in the game setting. So her sense of value for her own life is dangerously low. But no one else sees that and it’s absolutely infuriating and upsetting to them seeing her do this. And the Commander is right! This 100% changes the entire military operation. This isn’t a war to assist an ally that is under attack. They would of course take that seriously and give their best. But now this is a battle where if they lose…the first princess of their nation (that everyone loves) will die!

Pride has no idea how this completely upends the entire level of military response. If they had time to get the rest of their armed forces over there…they probably would! The Commander’s life could be at risk for allowing this! This goes from “fight as hard as possible” to “every single knight must be prepared to die rather than allow defeat.” It’s no wonder why the Commander flipped his lid. And it’s no surprise why Arthur and Stale were absolutely pissed. This wasn’t a “woo, let’s rally the crowd” moment. The woman they love basically treated her life as disposable and now if they lose…she’s cooked at the stake! The pressure and heat everyone is feeling is on another level.

There could be some surprises

It might mean nothing, but I worry that we haven’t seen the antagonists all that much. Not to say no attack is coming, but we’ve gotten nothing from their perspective. Freesia entering the picture should be a huge issue that completely changes their plans. Attacking a couple of relatively weak countries is one thing. But a powerhouse just entered the picture and it should be very obvious that they have. So…why is the attack still happening? Do they think they can win even with Freesia fighting too? I’ve seen some others pointing out how this all has left Freesia a bit less than perfectly defended…

Let’s look at the bigger picture. The main cast is all here. Even Tiara has come along. She’s tucked away safely with Cedric in a castle, but she’s not even home right now. The Commander of the Knights has come on this war, Stale and a lot of the young elites are all out there. That leaves the King/Queen and…everyone else just hanging back at home. What if someone makes a move? We still don’t even know how Lance was cursed/poisoned. There might be an assassination or just a surprise attack. And ironically Pride’s side wouldn’t want to send Stale to keep them informed since…Pride put her life at risk in this war and no one wants to report on that! Might be nothing though.

What the heck Pride!

Final Thoughts

That’s it!? What!? Maybe it should have been obvious. I was feeling last episode that they were getting uncomfortably close to the end without…any actual war. But then we reached the end of this episode and I had to check to make sure this wasn’t a show with 13 episodes! That’s it!? We’re just ending it here with the war set up and no season 3 announcement? I won’t say this is the biggest cliffhanger for a show that doesn’t have a certain future, but it’s certainly one bold move for a show that doesn’t have a certain future!

I don’t even know what to say. This is the kind of move that’s great if you get another season, but really rough without it. This arc was certainly about Cedric, but his arc is directly tied to this war! And no one has even thrown a punch yet! It’s kind of strange how it ends with everyone just getting fired up and then…nothing.

Well…here’s hoping for S3

This season has been great and overall I do rate it highly. It stayed really focused with two major arcs, but it did give them plenty of attention. We added the remaining game love interests into the mix. Neither of them seem likely to end up with Pride, but they certainly add to the cast and the setting. The focus really remains on Stale and Arthur in terms of ships. Val is a distant third, but still more in the conversation than say Cedric. I think it’ll be Arthur in the end, but who knows.

The cliffhanger kind of puts my thoughts into a blender a bit. But overall this was a good sequel. I can only imagine where the story is going to go from here. There’s still no sign of say Evil Pride being poised to take over her own body. But it sure seems like our Pride is very focused on being prepared for anything. I certainly hope we get a S3 and get news of it soon. If so then this season will be a fantastic setup for that.