https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sRNt93A2ZU
The Final Battle at the Castle
Episode 11 of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout begins with Ryza and her friends visiting Atelier Ryza for planning purposes. They revisit a specific location in the forest and combat a fairy monster. Meanwhile, Agatha informs Bos and Lumbar that they’re nearing the castle. She tells them they can return to the village from here if they’re worried about fighting it. Although Lumbar’s on board with leaving, Bos isn’t willing to flee.
Ryza and her friends arrive near a cliff that’s blocking their way toward the castle. Ryza uses her new Luft magic to lift her and the others over the cliff and near the castle’s entrance. Klaudia asks Ryza if she can use this power to get them over the castle’s entrance, but Ryza says she can’t control it precisely and doesn’t want to use it to ascend over the castle.
Lent asks Ryza if she made the item he suggested to her the previous day. Ryza pulls out and uses Wind Shoes to reach the castle’s rooftops. She drops a ladder along the castle’s entrance, allowing Klaudia, Lent, and Tao to ascend it. Once inside, our heroes observe the castle’s environment and notice how disheveled everything looks. They question what caused it to appear this way. Lent suggests they focus on regrouping with the hunting party before they encounter the dragon. They stumble upon a stone monument and Tao can only make out several words and phrases.
Based on the words he can decipher, Tao says the stone monument wants them to summon the dragon to kill something. Ryza wonders if the “something” in question happens to be the centralized scorpion Empel and Lila went to hunt. Tao gives the text another read and realizes the crystal monster’s name is Philuscha. He asks Ryza, Klaudia, and Lent to find small stones with text on them. Tao says these stones will help them fight the dragon.
Suddenly, the dragon notices Agatha and the hunting party arrive at the castle and it attacks them. Since they’re in a hurry, Tao grabs a random text-engraved stone and hopes it’ll help them in battle. Agatha’s party is nearly worn out from the dragon’s attack. Ryza and her friends arrive to assist them. She tells Agatha to care for her men and to let her and her friends handle the dragon. Ryza wants to use her new weapon to fight it but doesn’t believe she can hit the dragon since it’s high up.
Tao confronts Ryza and informs her about a plan that will allow her to use her new weapon. Tao places the text-engraved stone in an open location in the castle. The dragon spots it and lands. Tao explains the stone commanded the dragon to land on the surface to fight. Our heroes successfully defeat the dragon to Bos’s dismay. Afterwards, everyone returns to Rasenboden. Agatha and the villagers congratulate Ryza and her friends for defeating the dragon.
Ryza and her friends head to a garden with Agatha. Agatha asks Ryza why she’s hesitant to report to Mr. Moritz despite their achievements. Ryza says Bos refused to let her heal him, so she’s worried Mr. Mortiz will be infuriated with her. Mr. Moritz rushes over to them and congratulates them on their victory to Ryza and the others’ surprise. He reports Bos is in his room and will be okay. Agatha asks Mr. Moritz to accept Ryza and her companions as “skilled adventurers.” On top of that, Agatha wants Mr. Moritz to allow Ryza and her comrades to freely leave and return to the island whenever they please. Mr. Moritz accepts.
As our heroes walk away gleefully, Ryza’s mother and Mr. Lubart confront them for leaving the island. The following day, our heroes meet near the center of Rasenboden to discuss things. Tao reveals they’ve received a mixed response from the villagers. Lent says nothing’s changed with his relationship with his father and how the villagers view him. He plans to climb the tower one day, as he believes that will change their perception of him. Tao says he can enter the underground freely now.
Ryza notices Bos wandering about and asks him why he won’t accept them. Bos ignores our heroes and leaves.
The episode closes with Ryza and her friends feeling upset over Bos’s response.
The Episode Review
After last week’s set-up chapter, our heroes finally had their rematch with the dragon. The battle wasn’t anything too spectacular from a visual perspective. However, many viewers will adore seeing Ryza and her friends work as a team to defeat the dragon. This battle was a great way to demonstrate how far our characters have come since the series’s start.
At the same time, viewers can’t help but wonder if the story downplayed Agatha a tad. After learning about her past experiences in a previous chapter, you’d think she’d be more helpful to our heroes in the battle. While it makes sense to have someone relegated to protecting the injured, it would’ve been great to see her help our heroes fight the dragon.
Moreover, many viewers may question what’s going on with Empel and Lila’s separate endeavors. With one episode left to Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout to go, we’re likely to see updates concerning their investigation regarding Philuscha. Whether or not, Lila and Empel can defeat Philuscha is up in the air at this point though.
Overall, this was a decent chapter. It gives our heroes redemption for failing to defeat the dragon the first time around. With one episode left, we’re likely to get more intel about Philuscha, Empel, and Lila’s developments. However, there’s a chance another season of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout will happen given that the anime can explore content found in Ryza’s other video game endeavors. We’ll have to wait and find out.
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You can read our full season 1 review of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout here! |
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