Saga of Tanya the Evil II episode 6

Episode Rating: A

The last few episodes have had a more tactical “big picture” focus, leaving this season so far much lighter than the previous one on direct battle sequences. That changes with this episode as both Tanya and even Zettour get into the thick of things. The result is arguably the season’s best episode to date, one which beautifully balances tactical movements with the gritty, personal battle sequences frequently seen in the first season, all while maintaining a remarkably high level of constant tension. And for the first time since the earliest days of her military career, Tanya faces a manifest (rather than theoretical) life-or-death level challenge to her own safety. Even Mary Sue in the movie didn’t push her as hard, or come as close to actually killing Tanya, as Mikel does here.

While Rerugen has long been the one who seemed to best understand who Tanya is as a person, this episode shows that Zettour is the one who best understands how she thinks. He knows exactly how sharp she is, how she can see and take advantage of the bigger picture (even if she does sometimes get a bit carried away at it), and so he knows that she’ll react a certain way if he does the right set-up moves, even if they haven’t planned things out in advance. He knows that an officer bold enough to raid the Dacian capital (in an intimidation play) or the Federation capital (to force the Federation to pull back in defense) isn’t going to miss an opportunity to go on the offensive to complete a pincer maneuver, even if the original plan was for her forces to be playing the defense. And damned if he doesn’t have guts enough to put himself in harm’s way to carry the task out, with the assertion that his death could serve the purpose of shaking things up back on the home front. Honestly, he even seems to be enjoying himself even when things start to look grim. He also seems to have decided that if the Empire is going to ill-advisedly push forward with this war then the top brass should share the risk.

Meanwhile,Tanya runs into a different challenge: a mage who’s every bit as wily as she is and has a coordinated group around him which is at least as capable as the 203rd Aerial Battalion; in other words, this is the first foe Tanya’s faced who’s not going to underestimate her or get reckless, has support at least as good as hers, and can’t be overpowered by her normal gimmicks. The Federation mages also seem to have quality magical jewels, too. (The anime version doesn’t get into this point, but the source novel for this part clarifies that Federation jewels tend to be stronger on defense but weaker on offense compared to the versions used by Tanya’s forces.) That leads to an impressive display of coordinated battle tactics in a fantastic action sequence, one which fully realizes a flowing three-dimensional battle. The direction also smartly uses Tanya being the one to lose her cool in the face of a calm enemy (a juxtaposition of the norm for this series) to help promote the high level of tension throughout both the initial engagement and the regroup. The way Mikail just calmly and gracefully flew off when he had to retire from the battle (presumably because of not being able to maintain altitude without his jewel) was also a slick reminder that, for as capable as Tanya is, he’s the real veteran here. Someone being called “Devil of the Rhine” isn’t going to throw him off his game.

The episode had some other great moments, too. Serebreyokov’s decoy mission to draw off the Allied forces mages was a perfect bit of execution, and the scenes in the Federation camp were use efficiently to show that, while the Federation may have strong dedication in its structures, they sacrifice flexibility to maintain it. But my favorite scene may have been the one shown below, where Tanya and Zettour wind up fighting back-to-back after Zettour’s invite to tea after the battle, a statement whose irony he surely intended. It’s a wonderful bit of symbolism, with the “old guard” soldier using a bolt-action rifle while the vastly younger Tanya fights with a more modern gun, but both are ultimately soldiers in the end:

The series doesn’t forget to include its now-traditional light-hearted post-credit scene, either, this time showing Zettour pulling rank to snag the overwhelmed Grantz’s chocolate. Who knew Zettour had it in him?

Even with Re:Zero being back on starting with this week, this is still the top-performing series I’ve been following through the seasonal halfway point.