This was pretty well the kind of episode I was expecting and for that reason it was really enjoyable. This third season’s theme has basically been world building. The first season was about a serious plot, the second was more characterization for various cast members and this time we’re building up this world and its history more.

On that note I was all for this episode since Adel and Valerie were some of the more mysterious existences in the show. I was really eager to find out more about how everything came together and the fate of Valerie’s sister who was such a key figure in both their lives. In some ways the episode fell into place in a straight forward manner, but if you are going to tell a whole history in 1 episode it somewhat has to.

I have to say that I found Valerie’s point of view on taking on the demons an interesting one. While demons clearly seem to be a negative existence would taking them out just simply lead to peace? He was on the money that the one thing keeping all the nations from fighting was the fact they weren’t talking at all. You can’t fight a war if you can’t mobilize an army. Anyone who tried would have nothing left even if they managed to fight through the demons.

Of course at the same time Fi showed that you can still have peace even without the demons. It just takes good leadership and preparation to take on the challenges ahead. Now maybe this world is just too peaceful at times, but if the leaders are sane people it’s possible to avoid major bloodshed.

To be fair I actually thought Fi was going to end up dying in some kind of war. It would have made the warnings from Valerie really hit home and be a tragic twist that could work since her character had to die anyways. But the way they did it actually made sense. It was still her journey that killed her. If she hadn’t left the castle in the first place she would have been fine. But instead she went out, fought demons and eventually died from poison. It wasn’t the last battle that killed her (though that did push her over the line), it was the whole journey. Fighting all sorts of poisonous demons along the way left its mark. It’s a strong reminder that fighting demons isn’t a game. If it’s the wrong opponent than anyone could go.

I’m glad we got some of Adel and Valerie interacting, though I would have been fine with more of it. Kind of funny that they had the same kind of bathroom incident that Shinku and Millhi had, just with different results. Maybe because they were both older at that point. Either way those two had some fun interactions. It was just Valerie to basically examine Adel after the introduction, but actually surprise her with a pat on the head and asking her to take care of his sister. I did hope for more of Adel and Valerie interacting, but I guess even Adel wouldn’t be eager to talk about her own relationships in a flashback story. Did get enough of a feel for how they’d gotten closer being quick to count on each other during battles.

Somewhat hilarious how Valerie became this Demon King. I was curious if he actually went dark for a while….but nope he was just having fun XD. Goes to show you can leave a mark on history for the silliest of reasons. He needed to do research for the sake of the continent and it was a good way to punish Kingdoms that were getting out of hand. It was basically a win/win situation along with the fact that he could play up being a villain. Though the fact that he wasn’t taken on by Fi or the rest of the hero party probably should have given away that he wasn’t a bad guy.

A positive for all of Valerie’s work was Hina being able to grow up. Kid version of Hina being a combat badass was fun. But at the same time I could understand her wanting to grow up a bit. She and her brother are pretty well stuck as immortals looking over the world like Valerie and Adel, just for different reasons. There’s no other way forward for Hina or her brother because of how their bodies ended up. Unable to die or grow in any respect (without some help). You could say them meeting Adel and Fi was convenient, but they were both hunting down demons for a long period of time. Coincidence was bound to draw them together at some point.

The relationship between Fi and Adel was a nice one to watch. They got plenty close over the years and the battles they fought. Both of them having gone through so much for the sake of accomplishing the goals they set out to reach. There is the mystery about when exactly Adel was drawn, but you can probably guess around the French Revolution. A noble that was being hidden away in the countryside, knows about firearms, but doesn’t have a home to return to. Plus it is pretty famous so if you are pulling a historical character and you aren’t the most knowledgeable about French History that’s a good point to go to. In reality it’s more a “who knows.” Firearms and French nobility both have a pretty large history so you can only guess blindly. But if it was the French Revolution I could see Adel being happy to stay where she was. Even if there are demons and battles, at least they are battles she can fight and people who care about her standing nearby. That’s better than what she was leaving behind. Unlike Shinku and the others she didn’t have much conflict about staying.

I suppose it just shows the loss for both Adel and Valerie that they just pulled out from history after Fi’s death. While Adel probably took official power for a time, she likely worked to transition it to a dukedom in a hurry. I don’t think she or Valerie were interested in ruling so it was a reasonable step for them.

In the end this was a good episode. We got to see that the world wasn’t the easiest place to get by in and that it has changed quite a bit. Now to the point where demons popping up isn’t such a common occurrence and now countries have such tight connections when before they barely had any. I’d say it was a good episode. One in which I didn’t even mind that the main cast barely was involved. Although I do hope they can get some focus in the episodes we have left.
Score: A