The Witches’ Maw arc is picking up. In this episode, Galatea shows her awesome powers, and Riful does a stock shounen explanation of things. Oh, and some angry Clare too.
Most of the episode focuses on Clare’s fight with Dauf. All the while, Dauf is trying to rip off Clare’s clothes to see if he’s a man or a woman. He almost succeeds, then Galatea appears. She rescues Clare and calmly walks away from Dauf, who’s angered at this. He tries to attack her by shooting long, hard tubes from his mouth (eeew) but Galatea’s power deflects them. Dauf blocks her path by causing the ceiling to crumble, covering the exit with rocks. Galatea puts Clare down (who’s out with a broken leg), and fights Dauf.
BAAAAAW IT HURTS
Galatea cuts him up real bad, even hurting him badly between some joints where his armor plates overlap. This makes Riful appear out of nowhere to give Dauf some fighting advice. Armed with the knowledge of Galatea’s style, Dauf beats back Galatea’s Yoki hax and manages to hit her hard.
Clare saves Galatea in the nick of time, which prompts Riful to say about them being special. They talk, and Riful explains the reason for their increased activity. She also mentions the Awakened One in the north having a one-horned monster in his service. Clare decides to extract information from Riful by mindlessly attacking her, but Dauf keeps her away. She is so engrossed in trying to hit Riful until Galatea smacks her on the ground to keep her from losing control.
Realizing their predicament, Galatea orders Clare to find Jean, who is still underneath the caverns, and convince her to join them in their fight. She says that Clare should kill Jean if she has already Awakened. As Clare runs away, Galatea faces Dauf and Riful alone, releasing her powers. Clare arrives at the torture chamber and sees Awakened Jean. To be continued.
It’s just one big fight scene, but the execution is good. The advantage seesaws from each side to the other, and hearing Riful’s voice is just sweet. Well, Riful herself doesn’t really do anything in this episode but talk, and even the dumbest watcher could sense something sinister in her. She’s definitely stronger than Dauf, at any rate.
