Rating: B
The prostitute Marie was shown too prominently back in episode 21 for her to not pop up again later, so it’s little surprise that her reappearance comes as the story shifts to what Cid was doing after he stepped out of the picture for a while at the end of episode 27. Unfortunately, her decision to open up an inn in the Oriana town of First Fort was an ill-timed one, for she has gotten caught up in a veritable civil war over succession to the Oriana throne – a crisis that was, of course, predicated by Rose’s actions in episode 19. Hence we have two of the story’s loose ends converging here as Cid arrives on the scene. To further elevate the coincidence level, the much-used 664-666 trio is on the job here, too, for reasons that are initially unrelated. One has to wonder if anyone else in Shadow Garden is out doing missions at this point. . .
Actually, the presence of Rose’s squad isn’t a coincidence at all, given that Oriana’s royal family has a home here. And it seems like 559 has a bone to pick with her too, since Rose is the only other individual in the organization outside of the Seven Shadows and 559 herself to get her power directly from Shadow – in other words, she was personally recruited by Shadow rather than the Seven Shadows. Exactly how that happened has yet to be animated (and may never be, unless she continues to be a prominent character), but other online sources indicate that she did have a cameo in season 1: she was one of the two people fighting as Rose was led into Alexandria by Alpha. (The other was the 89 briefly mentioned in this episode.)
Really, you have to feel at least a bit of pity for Rose here, as the only people who are even somewhat looking out for her are 664 and 665, and that’s not saying much. Her mother is (most likely) being coerced to help the Cult of Diablos, 559 is trying to kill her mother and calling Rose a traitor when she jumps to defend her mother from 559, and Shadow Garden (or at least Gamma), the Cult of Diablos, and Shadow all are trying to use her to their own ends. Why exactly the Cult wants her isn’t clear, but her being the rightful successor to Oriana’s throne probably has something to do with it. Shadow Garden, meanwhile, seems content to let her be in the Cult’s clutches for now to draw out some of the Cult’s key leadership, and Cid/Shadow has struck on the notion of setting Rose up as a tyrant-queen that he can later defeat in showy fashion. Really, she’s pretty screwed.
This whole scenario also raises another question: can’t the queen (Rose’s mother) take over the government and thus prevent the civil war? Or is Oriana a state where woman cannot take the top spot?
Regardless, and as usual, no one is on the same page here. Cid is also personally back in action, whether it’s mixing in a bit of Robin Hood, re-invigorating 559, or his very condensed account of all the scenarios he tried while trying to figure out the coolest way to take advantage of this situation. This does not result in the season’s sharpest wit (hence the somewhat lower grade), but the episode still touches plenty enough of the normal bases.
USA Anime 