Summary:

Even though their goal isn’t to pursue Van, Luke still hurries along the group through the desert because he doesn’t want to keep Van waiting. Their actual goal right now is Ion, but the others don’t understand why Asch would tell Luke his whereabouts. Regardless, they soon arrive at the Zao Ruins and make their way inside. They get to the bottom in time to see Asch have Ion remove the seal from a doorway, but Sync and Largo then get in their way, so a battle erupts. Luke, Jade, and Anise take on Largo while Guy, Tear, and Natalia take on Sync, but neither of the God-Generals goes down easily, and Guy gets hit in the arm by Sync. Asch eventually gets involved as well against Luke, and Luke recognizes Asch’s fighting techniques to be the same as Van’s. Unfortunately, the explosive clash between Luke and Asch causes the cavern to start to cave-in, and Sync orders a retreat. Tear ends up saving Natalia again – this time from a falling pillar – and when Largo hears Natalia’s name, he pauses as if he knows her. However, when Asch questions him about his connection to Natalia as they’re running out of the ruins, Largo claims that it’s something from the past that he’s forgotten about.

Luke’s group also makes their way out of the ruins, and once they’re safe, Ion apologizes for the trouble he’s caused. All Luke cares about, however, is the fact that Van is waiting. Jade then asks what Asch and the others were having Ion do, and he knows that this is something called a Sephiroth. Ion explains that he was forced to remove the Daathic seal that had been originally placed by the Order of Lorelei, but when Guy questions why the Order was trying to protect the Sephiroth, Ion declines to answer because it is confidential. The group then continues their journey and makes their way to the port of Chesedonia. Anise thinks that Ion should rest, but Luke insists that there’s no time, and Ion doesn’t mind not stopping. While in the city, Luke happens to run into the same trio that kidnapped Ion, and they initially think that he’s Asch. When they realize that he’s not, they use a smoke bomb to escape. Afterward, while the group is boarding the boat to their next destination, Guy’s arm suddenly starts moving on its own. Ion realizes that this is the effect of a curse slot, and Guy remembers that Sync was the one who hit him. Ion uses this to conclude that Sync is nearby because the curse slot is more powerful when the caster is close by. Fortunately, the pain subsides after they get on the boat and leave Chesedonia.

The boat brings the group all the way to Kaitzur, and they then proceeds by foot through the Deo Pass. Luke is still unhappy about how they got side-tracked in the desert, and he feels that he’s the only one needed right now to prevent the war. This gets Anise and Tear pissed off at him, and their opinions of him don’t improve when he refuses to stop after Ion gets tired and falls to his knees. Luke once again points to how he’s the goodwill ambassador, so everyone should do as he says, but he decides to let Ion rest after Jade ignores what he said and Ion apologizes to him for the trouble. Their break is short-lived though because Legretta suddenly appears on the cliff above them and fires her gun at them. Legretta questions why Tear is with the group, but Tear questions Legretta back about the kidnapping of Ion and the involvement of the Sephiroth. Legretta claims that it’s to win people’s free will and freedom, and she goes on to explain how alarmed she’s been by how the world is controlled by the Score to the point where people rely on it for everything. She once again tells Tear to come back to her, and when Tear questions if this is her brother’s order, Legretta admits that it’s not, but she adds that Van is worried about Tear.

All this reminds Tear of how Legretta had originally trained her, and although she’s still grateful for that, Tear feels that she can’t go back until her suspicions toward her brother are cleared. This prompts Legretta to question if Tear is choosing the failure over His Excellency, and from this, Jade realizes something and proceeds to accuse Legretta’s side of restoring a certain technology. Ion stops Jade from saying anything more because there are some things that people are better off not knowing, and Luke is completely confused as to what the two are talking about. Jade is still angry and tries to approach Legretta, but she shoots at him and again tells Tear to come back before running off. Luke still doesn’t know what’s going on, and when no one fills him in, he starts throwing a tantrum. Tear tries to make him realize that he’s acting like a child, but Luke notes that Van never treated him this way and was always nice to him. Hearing this, Tear calls Luke a puppet who can’t do anything without Van around, and she warns him that if he doesn’t start thinking for himself, then he’ll do something that’s irreparable. This leaves Luke frustrated because he feels that Van is the only one who understands him.

Preview:

Geez, Luke was such a whiny asshole this week – it’s bad enough when a male lead is just whiny or just an asshole, but being both makes him pretty much unbearable (see: Kazuki from Dragonaut or Kouichi from Linebarrels). Luke was just annoying before, but now I’m very close to hating him, and I hope someone puts him in his place soon. Since he reveres Van so much, this would probably be a good time for Van to betray him and cause his little world to come crashing down on him.

Aside from Luke, some other things bothered me this episode, though not necessarily in bad ways. Certainly I found it a little disconcerting that the group hopped halfway across the world during a commercial break, but it was more frustrating to watch all these concepts (Daathic seals, Sephiroth, whatever it was that got Jade all worked up) get introduced without really being explained. I guess we’re experiencing things from Luke’s point of view, but that doesn’t make it any better, nor doesn’t it make me any more sympathetic toward his character. What I did like, however, is that they are showing that the Six God-Generals aren’t necessarily bad guys and are giving them some motivation that could be construed in a positive way – at least what Legretta said about the Score made it seem like she had a potentially good cause. There was also the connection between Largo and Natalia which I’m sure will be explained later. Next week, however, it looks like the group finally arrives at Akzeriuth, and Luke gets reunited with his precious Van.

42 Comments

  1. (Daathic seals, Sephiroth, whatever it was that got Jade all worked up)

    Don’t rush things up just yet. All your curiosity shall be explaned later in the story and not so far from the next episode!! (If it continue in this rate)

    In the game Luke quite a asshole around this time too.

    I wonder… how will they make the scene at Akzeriuth as the end of it is one of the great scene of the game.

    Luminos
  2. While the instant movement in travel is annoying, I think that’s probably the worst thing about RPGs, is you’d normally hafta cover it or devote an episode or twos worth to making it go from point a to point b or c. Doesn’t excuse that its glossed over, but this is at least giving RPGs the blue prints on how to make an anime from the game.

    Also, there’s seems to be as much foreshadowing here as in the game when you got to this point. Which means in the next one or two episodes we should see some pretty startling revelations come up.

    And I hafta say this is a suitable replacement so far as for someone who wants a “condensed” version of the story and not wanna play the game. Really nice job here.

    Kageho
  3. Haven’t played the game. But could it be possible that asch made a promise to Natalia, instead of Luke? it just struck me how he seemed to be watching Natalia, as if he knew her. Besides Natalia says that Luke acts different than before his memory loss. It just makes me wonder if it even was Luke she knew back then, when she was just a little kid.

    JordiBlau
  4. Can’t blame the view on Luke for this week. I feel the same now and I played the whole game. This point he just looks bad. Before he had an attitude, but here he was arrogant to the extreme and running Ion into the ground due to his desire to be reunited with “Master Van.” Honestly the group should let him storm off and get killed by something. Luke is hitting his low point right now as a character.

    Like showing the God Generals as more than an opposing group. Legretta definitely hints that what they want isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Asch was fine with releasing Ion after the seal was undone as well. Can’t wait until they the reasons behind Largo and Asch’s interest in Natalia.

    Lot of terms coming out and they will be explained upon in time.

  5. A few comments:

    Luke was written to be disliked and whiny, but it works out all the better in the end. Remember the opening song’s title is “Karma”, and that’s basically what the TotA story is about.

    Second, in the game it makes perfect sense to view stuff from Luke’s point of view – he knows nothing about the world, but neither does the player. All the concepts need to be introduced to the player, but in many games this is done very artificially. With this plot device (Luke knowing nothing), the game actually achieves a “natural” information flow towards the player.

    I think it should be noted that Luke isn’t a bad character, just someone who basically is incredibly ignorant. I think the important character point this week was how Luke “realized” that Van is the only one who ever took the time to explain stuff to him. Just as how Luke is unbearably whiny and self-centered, his companions up to this point never did really took that much note of the fact that Luke just knows nothing about the world.

    What I liked in the game, and what I hope they convey just as much is that Luke transforms into a very likeable person towards the end. Maybe they just had to make him extra-unlikeable to make that effect even stronger.

    Oh, and it’s funny to see the scenes that are also anime cutscenes in the game from the anime’s point of view: here’s the cutscene from the last ep when Luke realized that Asch looks just like him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBI8ErVaRc – In the game, I’ve actually never realized that Asch is Luke just from the opening (they had slightly different shades of red as hair color, and different hairstyle). I guess this aspect was better handled in the game.

    tokugawa
  6. Just so people know, there isn’t a ToA episode next week (the reason I don’t remember) BUT episode 8 and 9 will be aired back to back (which works out perfectly, given what’s going to happen next episode).

    Acerbus
  7. You hate Luke now, but later you will love him. He is one of the best main characters in the “Tales of ” series.
    You might think that Luke is whiny and annoying because he has been stuck in his manor for 7 years, but it is also because
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Luke WILL change and mature into an awesome character.

    rawraw
  8. Well without spoiling the whole thing,
    Luke will practically get a reality b*tch slap soon…….and then he’ll get little growth…..I wonder how they’ll handle the ending too….cause I consider the game ending too open, I mean you call that an epilouge!!!!

    Still I wonder if they’ll show after the fall
    Show Spoiler ▼

    That was heartbreaking…..show it animated I guarentee there will be tears

    Twi
  9. I really didn’t dislike Luke all that much until the pass, and I blame that on Van~ (Which is why I despise him more than any other fictional character actually) But yes, his, err, loyalty… is exceedingly annoying. Hurrah for Akzeriuth, the much needed reality check. And at the same time, boo to Akzeriuth, because you can’t do anything about it. Goddamnit Van.

    What has Jade so furious has really been hinted at a lot already… Show Spoiler ▼

    which interests me, because in the game I don’t remember them hint- …nevermind. I remembered. It just wasn’t as obvious.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    …I liked the ending, even though it was really sad… The game gives you everything to put together who it is that comes back. Karma indeed.

    Mauyn Eign
  10. Hey dumbasses that have played the game stop posting spoilers. I know you guys want to feel superior to those that havent played the game and know the story but try to stop posting spoilers or hints on what is to come. Let us experience what it’s like when you first experience the story in the game. Also i have played finish the game.

    Spiller
  11. yea luke is your typical whiny lead. why couldn’t they make him more like cloud? cloud is boring, but at least he gives off that “deep thinking” and “quiet sexy” feeling instead of being a super jerk lol

    the sooner luke’s world comes crashing down, the better imo

    jho
  12. @ Gummi

    Just keep watching and everything later will be explained. Anyway, how Omni feels right now is exactly what he is supposed to feel. Confusion, annoyed, hatred, etc. That definitely means that so far the show has been doing a great job then with the adaptation.

    Silver
  13. @Mauyn Eign

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Acerbus
  14. WTF @sim?!

    @Twi: If you want to talk about spoilers, go post in a games thread. As you see here, many ppl aren’t even capable to use the spoiler space correctly.
    Or is it just my FF 3.01 browser acting up? I doubt it.

    Bobo
  15. realy coudlnt stand to see luke like that……..every second was painful since I kinda liked his character from previous eps but in this……………..asshole wont be a match for him????
    u know its kinda abvious he looks with a slight hatred toward anybody around him,think they never take him seriously,and when Van said u would become a hero he just got too fired up and is acting bossy as the result.
    I also think its a perfect time for a sweet betrayal by Van to make luke comes back to his sense.

    luches
  16. Yeah, I can totally relate, I despised Luke in the beginning when I played the game.
    I’m kind of avoiding the anime until the “development” happens, because I don’t want to relive that hate 🙁

    Jennymon

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