「ゼルン回廊、燃ゆ」 (Zerun Kairō, Moeyu)
“The Sellun Corridor Burns | Der Sellun-Korridor brennt nieder”

It’s always suspicious when an anime decides to start an episode with good news. Even without the episode title telegraphing that things aren’t going to go well at the Sellun Corridor, I’m sure most of the audience is familiar with the way dramatic tension rises and falls in stories. We’re not quite near the end yet, so there’s no way that the good guys will be allowed to actually win, so when the plot starts to lift them high you’d just know that it’s setting them up for a fall—writers are cruel sadists. In any case, the Germanians secretly hold all the cards anyway, so Shuumatsu no Izetta isn’t exactly convincing when making its case about how fabulously the war was going. Even if they didn’t, this timeline’s Third Riech variant seems to have nothing but secret military programmes, so whenever it seems like the Allies will gain the upper hand I’m sure they’ll just bust out another one of them to even the scales. They’re Swiss-army-knife villains. Why would they even have a corkscrew? But they have a corkscrew.

In fact, Germania has so many weapons projects that they can afford to toss one away as a complete fake-out. We never do see their new guns in action and perhaps never will. The real card up their sleeves is in fact a witch of their very own. In fact, it’s not just a witch, but a Zombie Vampire Witch Clone, which is… yeah, completely normal for anime. The big whammy is that she’s supposed to be the original White Witch, though, now full of irrational spite. Apparently, the Nazis were right all along (there’s no way that can be taken out of context) and the White Witch story has a grim end which no self-respecting historian ever bothered to look into. And, er, I guess she’s every bit as villainous as the stereotypes suggest. I would have thought the Germanians would have dressed her in white, too, to stage a White Witch propaganda coup but, nope, symbolic black it is. And apparently, she’s even more of a blood mage than Izetta is, and as I mentioned in episode 02, blood magic never ends well for anyone. So I guess the the moral of this darker White Witch legend is… witches are as dangerous as everyone thought, they needed to be put in the ground for the good of humanity, everything was completely justified.

Er…

Well, since it’s the Nazis reviving a vengeful eldritch power, I’m sure nothing can possibly go wrong. They apparently have her on a leash; is that the blood thing again? What are they actually doing, and how are they managing to do any of it? When an anime suddenly introduces a second conceit in the nine episode of their run—that the Nazis actually have far-future super-science, and that we’re not only fantasy but also sci-fi—it needs to work hard to justify it. Witches, I accept as the premise of your story. Blood being able to do anything including transferring memories I can accept as more of the miraculous properties of blood in fantasy (blood, and shiny rocks, so shiny blood rock must be truly incredible). When they trot out a Crazy Nazi Zombie Vampire Witch Clone as a major antagonist this late, though, the fourth wall is going to need additional masonry. I shall wait to see what more Shuumatsu no Izetta intends to do with Sophia with cautious anticipation.

For now, I guess Elystadt is going to enjoy some of that classic government-in-exile (assuming they stopped staring flabbergasted at the sky long enough to flee). It’s a good thing they happen to have been researching anti-witch weaponry. It turns out they might need it themselves.

27 Comments

  1. -Amazing Witch Girl – this made me chuckle!
    -Frankentanks with quad AA cannons… perfect for fending off pesky witches with hail of automatic fire
    -Finally Germanians use some strategy, feigned attack and decisive one elsewhere, and Izetta cant be at two places at same time…
    -Oh and they even have a witch of their own… And she is evil clone of the original white witch?
    -Boy isnt it ironic she talks about Izetta being manipulated while being on Berckmanns leash herself?
    -ok despair moment is upon us… how do they climb out of this?

    ewok40k
  2. Since the last episode, when they stole a page of sora no woto’s book (2 sides of a legend), and then another for Valkyria Chronicles (magic user vs magic user) which made the “last witch” moniker of the story completely null, this 2nd half of Izetta has been boringly obvious BS plot armor from the Germs in terms of just saving all the cards, like a cheap WWE heel character. So in a single ep, Izetta is defeated, Eylstad conquered, and 7 eps of character and story flow are almost completely deleted to generate hype for the finale.
    I can even see how is gonna be the last part: Zombie Clone will turn against the Germs, which realized how idiotic was to revive a witch which they burn just for sport, release Izetta, ask for the Allies’ help for an UNDERSTANDING finale.

    This is BS

    SeedStriker
  3. i think the “betrayal” the White Witch mention here (well the memories could also be fake), are from the ones that lost their beloved ones and killed the Withe Witch in their anger or despair, like in “Last Exile -Ginyoku no Fam” https://randomc.net/image/Last%20Exile%20Ginyoku%20no%20Fam/Last%20Exile%20Ginyoku%20no%20Fam%20-%2018%20-%20Large%2032.jpg

    Yes, the dark mob that lost some want to kill her, because they did not save them.. Not knowing the secret of her “power limits”

    Worldwidedepp
    1. Izetta can use her own blood, to get powers. But this would cost now her own life. because she already lost some blood because of her chest wound

      remember, in how she use blooddrops to catch the airplanes with ice spikes? i fear this as this anime climax, and so we are about to lose her in the finale

      Worldwidedepp
  4. My Speculation:
    https://randomc.net/image/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta/Shuumatsu%20no%20Izetta%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2025.jpg
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Worldwidedepp
      1. Show Spoiler ▼

        Worldwidedepp
  5. My speculation – cloned witch realises she is being manipulated this time as well, goes one winged angel at Germans, and either dies while taking them out or is nuked by USAtlanta.
    Princess makes a daring rescue of Izetta, then both escape into Yuri dimension.

    ewok40k
  6. Yeap, glad I stayed outta this show 😀

    I can just imagine… the doujins… the steamy hot doujins… full off “OH YEAH!!!” lesbo action that even your oden can’t give you action.

    The fatalistic train has left, and now Citrus and Netzou Trap are left. From one end of Yuri to another, even Yuri going on ice can melt.

    BOOM SHAKA LAKA!!!

    Nishizawa Mihashi
  7. This episode was really satisfying. Finally smarts and readiness to make sacrifices paid off and Germania got the victory they deserved. I like Sophia very much. She is very cute and I can feel with her tragic backstory. Only her manic laugher turns me off.

    Enan84
  8. Sophie may think of herself as the resurrected White Witch, but I doubt she has the White Witch’s memories. I suspect she’s getting her information from Berkman.

    There’s a certain irony in her accusing Izetta of having no thoughts of her own and not realizing she’s being manipulated.

    Darthtabby
    1. I think she got the memories somehow. She was talking like she suffered the pain of betrayal and torture herself. It didn’t sound like something she was told about, but something she experienced herself.

      Jim
  9. Oh lordy, this show.

    We need Izetta to use her magic to assemble a tank-mecha which fires off gigantic flaming swords and can use it’s “bare” hands to grapple with Sophie’s flying whatevers. That’s likely the most obvious anime-approved solution to the Nazi-clone black witch puppet problem.

    Cuz obviously nothing is off the table as too ludicrous.

    danny
  10. I have always been a little tentative about this series. A lot of times when I see something that I do not like I can usually answer with “because anime”. We can look at the all female special forces and say that. The entirely unnecessary fan service and sexual assault fits but now we have cloning? This whole series is set in a fictitious version of world war 2. The names of nations are thinly vailed versions of the real ones and the technology by in large lines up with the 1940’s. Ok, fine. Then we have magic. Sure, that’s ok. It’s kind of a fundamental aspect of the series. Now we have a clone? I’m sorry but why even bother? Why bother making this whole setting take place in a pseudo world war 2 if you are going to pull science out that even today isn’t possible.

    Bob
    1. I’m not sure why you have a problem with cloning, but not cryopreservation. If you take the technology at the time, Izetta mould be mush and bones during the first episode. She would’ve died from either hypothermia or thermal shock.

      And a bit of fun fact, the first time we manage to artificially clone something was in 1885 (far from Dolly, more like identical twins). While the first time we manage preserve a living cell, AFAIK, was in 1957. Since they seem to have bypassed WWI the rate of progress of non-comercial technological might have been slightly different.

      theirs
  11. This is comic book Nazi of the time I’m fairly sure cloning was one of the things they sci-fi’s into the Captain American Stories. Technology was always higher in the comics than in real life even in WWII. They could not do it but the idea of doing it was out there.

    RedRocket

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