text: Hitomi and Van are in a battlefield where various wreckage lies. A couple of troops from the Cesario army ask for help from Van. Van thinks of the Fanelia samurai getting killed and says he will help them and lead the main attack force. He asks them to get Hitomi back to Asturia. Hitomi wants to stay but Van says he doesn’t want to have to rely upon her power for war. Hitomi is brought back to Asturia. Meanwhile, the Zaibach forces near the battlefield. General Adelphos is frustrated that they haven’t received orders from Dornkirk to proceed. In Zaibach, Dornkirk says the Zone of Absolute Fortune will come soon. Hitomi watches the Asturia troops head out. Allen talks to Hitomi, and their conversation indicates that she refused his earlier proposal. Meanwhile, Dryden and Millerna watch the troops head out. He gives her back their wedding ring and says he doesn’t deserve her. Dryden says he will better himself after the war so someday he will be worthy of her, but Millerna says she might not still be waiting then. Hitomi sees Folken and asks him to create a pillar of light so she can ask Dornkirk to stop the war. Folken says he will confront Dornkirk himself using a machine he took from the Vione. Hitomi sees a vision of Folken dead on the ground and realizes he will die if he confronts Dornkirk. That evening Millerna tells Allen what Dryden did earlier, and Allen says he is heading to battle. At a Zaibach camp on the battlefield, Jajuka tells Dilandau their latest orders. The battle begins later that night, and large Zaibach vehicles engulf the battlefield in flames. Van takes out a few Guymelefs, and Allen arrives in his Guymelef and does the same. Meanwhile, in a Basram ship their leader decides to use their ultimate weapon. They drop an energist bomb out of the ship. Meanwhile Hitomi looks over the horizon in her room. Merle sits on the bed crying because she is scared Van won’t return. A Basram shuttle drops the bomb, and its detonation causes a large flash in the sky. The troops on the ground watch in shock as they are destroyed. Hitomi and Merle see the explosion from afar.
  The Zaibach forces, including three of the four Generals are obliterated by the bomb. The Crusade flies behind a mountain to avoid being hit. General Adelphos’ Floating Fortress is partially destroyed and crashes into the nearby mountain. Van, Allen and the others look in shock at the huge crater caused by the explosion. A Zaibach soldier charges Van and is killed, cursing Van as he dies. Hitomi senses Van’s suffering and goes to see Folken. She tells Folken that she wants to stop Van’s suffering. She tells Folken that she saw a vision that he dies in Zaibach. Folken he says there’s no need to worry since he will soon die anyway. Folken shows Hitomi his black wings and says a reaction of fortune means he will soon perish. Folken doesn’t mind dying so as to atone for his association with Dornkirk, but Hitomi wants to stop this from happening since Van will be alone without him. Her pendant reacts to the device and the two of them are transported to Zaibach in a pillar of light. Allen and Van continue to fight on the battlefield. Allen looks for the red Guymelef. Hitomi and Van arrive in Dornkirk’s lair, and he says it’s time to activate the Fate Alteration Engine. He says he guided fate so Folken would bring Hitomi, the last needed element to him. Folken gets angry at Dornkirk, and Dornkirk says to go ahead and kill him. Folken pulls out his sword and the armor around Dornkirk is removed. Dornkirk beckons Folken to attack him. Folken flies up and drives his sword through Dornkirk’s head. It goes right through him and shatters on the steel below. The end of the sword strikes Folken in the chest. He says the war will now end and falls to the ground dead. Van realizes what happened and thinks of his brother. He destroys another Guymelef and screams out in sadness. Hitomi cries as well since sad things keep happening. Her pendant glows and the Fate Alteration Engine activates. Dornkirk appears in a phantom-like form and asks her to observe the Zone of Absolute Fortune with him.
  Commentary
  Things quickly head towards the conclusion here in the second to last episode of the show. The first half of the episode wraps up some of the various character threads, such as the Hitomi-Allen relationship and Dryden-Millerna relationship. From there we head into a massive battle. The usage of the energist bomb to wipe out the majority of the Zaibach forces comes out of nowhere and seemed like too convenient a way to even up the battle between Zaibach and the allied forces. Still, as one who doesn’t mind them skipping past some battle sequences I didn’t mind it too much. Folken meets his demise in a fantastically directed scene. It is unfortunate that he had to die, but at least he takes Dornkirk with him.
  Original Review: April 1, 2006
  Overall Rating
  ☆☆☆☆☆ 5/5
  Escaflowne Info
  Director:
  Kazuki Akane
  Writer(s):
  Shoji Kawamori
  Hiroaki Kitajima
  Akihiko Inari
  Ryota Yamaguchi
  Mechanical Designer(s):
  Kimitoshi Yamane
  Junya Ishigaki
  Mahiro Maeda
  Koji Sugiura
  Character Designer:
  Nobuteru Yuki
  Musical Composer(s):
  Yoko Kanno
  Hajime Mizoguchi
  Format:
  26 episodes
  Airdates:
  Japan 04.02.1996 – 09.24.1996
  U.S. 08.19.2000 – 10.17.2000
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  Jeremy Parish, probably @gamespite ·
  30 Nov
  This week's retrospective video covers three games that share two traits in common:
  1. They are shooting games about mechs or robots or what have you
  2. They are not very good
  Join me in a sigh of relief that we NES owners dodged these wretched bullets https://youtu.be/uwXjJaPYXPU
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  SSSSRW.D180223 #SRW @180223 ·
  29 Nov
  On the 30th of November 2018, Gundam Narrative (NT) was released in Japanese theatres. It was the sequel to Gundam Unicorn. It debuted in SRW Cross Omega (Mobile) in 2018 & appeared in SRW 30 (Steam, PS4, Switch) in 2021.
  Happy 4th Anniversary 🎉
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