As soon as our Princess Cruelty has her redemption moments, I immediately realize this might be the last we see of her. This proves to be the case, well, this is Thunderbolt world we’re talking about – the strong survives and the weak dies, but I believe Thunderbolt gives her characters just about enough growth. She had gone through one hell of a challenge as the prideful evil Sword berates her and nearly uses her blood as a sacrifice (well, it’s another kind of physical and mental abuse if you think about it). While her short duel with Shang Bu Huan doesn’t really change anything – she knows the guy is much stronger than her – I enjoy the moments in many ways. First, unlike Thunderbolt’s other duels so far this sword fight is short and sweet. It takes just one move for Shang Bu Huan to defeat the Princess. Second, like what Shang Bu Huan comments, it’s rather impressive that Princess Cruelty can shake off the evil sword and fight in her own will. She mentions how using the powerful sword makes her realize how weak she is, but in truth the person who can realize their own limitation goes a long way. Thunderbolt has always addressed the quest of becoming invincible by the means of swords, and this Cruelty plot further demonstrates this quality to great extend. You’ve done well, Cruelty.
In the other side of the battle, admittedly with a much lower stake, Dirty Cop ‘asks’ Gui Niao (not very nicely) to make a deal with him of swapping “stolen goods” and sell them with high price. Well, this Dirty Cop sure is corrupted, but points for him for stripping down all the pretense. Still, his puppet’s teeth gonna give me nightmare, I swear. Gui Niao is playing along with his scheme for now, but I won’t be surprised if the man is waiting for a right opportunity to turn the table.
And finally, the evil Sword has a new sword-wielder. Can’t say I’m surprised with this new turn of events, but I’m sure with the guy as amoral as this Monk, his combination with the Seven Blasphemous Deaths makes him a formidable threat. His new design is certainly awesome and moreover, it’s interesting to see how the evil sword and him will play out. This guy is not the type who can be easily controlled for sure, so whatever the case he will this sword: as a tool, or as a soulmate, or as a master, it remains to be seen. But I’m sure hyped for how Shang Bu Huan and his partner can overcome this powerful beast. The lesson Shang Bu Huan needs to learn here, is to listen to your goddamn partner, dude. This Ginger Singer knows best.
This episode was kind of disappointing to me. One of the main strengths of the first season was how unpredictable it was, how many of the main characters kept you second guessing their motivations and loyalties. By comparison, most of the characters in this season – though still a lot of fun to watch – are rather straightforward, and that makes them much less interesting, especially the villains (the Dirty Cop is the worst offender here). And as a result the story has been pretty predictable: the monk ending up with the evil sword, Princess Cruelty being killed off after her redemption, the slow poker game between Enigmatic Gale and Dirty Cop – it’s all rather formulaic stuff. But with only three episodes left and the evil sword in the hands of the monk we should be close to the endgame now, and I’m sure Urobuchi will give us an appropriately bombastic (and deadly) finale again.
Oh I completely agree with everything you said. That’s the one beef I have for this current season. It’s not great that you can see all these coming from miles away; and yes the Dirty Cop is the worst because he’s too clear-cut evil. But yeah apart from that it has been really fun ride, hopefully they can capture the magic like the way they deal with the wingless Dragon in previous week. It was just insane.