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「Hide & Seek」
Exciting infiltrations, ensuing melee and magic combat between mecha, fending off hordes of monsters. To top it off, the implication of political struggles. What more could I ask for from a medieval fantasy?
Infiltration
Looks like the group from the end of last episode really meant trouble. Scoundrels, the lot of them. Causing so much collateral damage by setting off monster bait in a village is going overboard, even if it was a ploy to draw out forces from Casedesus fortress. Nevertheless, I was quite interested in the newly showcased model of Silhouette Knight (SK), which seems exclusively built for espionage. And dare I say impressed at the usage of guerrilla tactics, killing the messenger and stealing their SK to complete the second part of their plan.
The part that left me confused was when the infiltrators actually remained inside Casedesus to attack, instead of sneaking away into the dead of night. True, they weren’t expecting backup to arrive so quickly. But their mission was to hoist away the new mecha design, not to wreak havoc. At the first sign of trouble, the mysterious woman and two members of her entourage make haste to leave the fortress with their ill-gotten gains.
Defence of Fort Casedesus
The prize for timely intervention goes to the squad travelling from Laihiala, who coincidentally intercept the highjackers. Although they couldn’t completely prevent the escape, the total models stolen away reduced from three to merely one.
Edgar put up a valiant fight to no avail. My memory is escaping me on the subject of whether the Earlcumber also received an upgrade. I will assume he didn’t, because there were no extra arms on the back for firing magic. His attempt at taking on the Telestale has definitely improved from the last sparring session with Helvi. But I can’t help thinkong he might have held out evenly. He faltered by allowing the split second of Kid and Addie winning their side of the fight to distract him. I could relate to his surprise, because the victory was nothing short of a happy fluke. But that dip in concentration ended up being quite costly, with the mysterious woman capitalising upon it using a ferociously improvised combination of attacks.
Dietrich stepped up for his moment of redemption and I’m really happy it finally arrived. Staying true to his knight’s vow of not abandoning his comrade? Standing firm to defend a vulnerable Edgar from the oncoming swarm of monsters? What a complete badass! Here’s hoping that this change in outlook is a permanent fix.
Concluding Thoughts
While I could see the logic in appointing an Order of the Silver Phoenix, an apt creature of choice considering Ernesti was reborn, I actually think Edgar would have been a more logical choice for leader. Ernesti is capable, but his efforts should be reserved primarily for researching and developing new mecha. Not to mention, Edgar has shown the ability to command and coordinate during the Behemoth attack to keep his unit members alive.
If I was behind the spy network, I would just monitor the situation until the completed product came out. Stealing the prototype wouldn’t achieve much, and if they ever want to go back for a second swoop, no doubt Ernesti will have come up with countermeasures by then. Yet they left with what they came for, even if the operation was severely botched. So it’s not like they weren’t successful.
Which leads to the question. Why steal technology from a strategic ally tasked with defending the continent from monster hordes, and leave them hanging in a precarious position? I’ll leave it at that, but do expect these spies to make a return later on in the series.
Preview
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I thought they did it because, like Dixgard, they thought it was already complete. They didn’t know that Ernesti had bigger/better plans. I don’t believe rhe spy wasn’t part of the inner circle, just one of the workers on the floor.
They were hoping to grab the Telestale during the transfer, but the worms were defeated too quickly. Since they couldn’t grab the mech then, they came up with the alternate plan to sneak into the castle.
The Marquis didn’t have any idea, because he had no inside knowledge. Everything he knew was based off hearsay.
The spies had inside knowledge through one of the actual engineers for the newer models, who surely must have known that Ernesti intended to go further given the famous nutjob he is. Heck, surely a more competent spymaster would attempt to further monitor Ernesti, before taking affirmative action like stealing.
Whereas stealing it away during transit makes for a good piece of espionage due to its opportunism, and sneaking into Casedesus doesn’t seem all that bad, wreaking havoc on an infiltration mission where you’re hopelessly outnumbered and under greater scrutiny is something else. That defeats the point of an infiltration, by opening up the operation to the risk of being responded to by the alerted security forces.
I think at this point they all thought Tellestarl was already the completed model, Even Duke Dixgard though it was the final model, it was only when Eru said that it was only a foundation for the future unit did he realize that the Tellestarle was a proof of concept prototype.
From what I recall Fremevia only has an alliance with the nation immediately to the west of the mountain, but there are alot of other kingdoms on the western side, more than a few of them thinking as Fremevia Knights as country bumpkins.
@Devastaot001 This – Kerhilt’s masters basically tell her the new mechas are “too extravagant for mere demon beast exterminators, and only their home nation is worthy enough of such technology”.
https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2005%20-%2010.jpg
This is how medieval-age thinking works. Remember how the Duke said that there had not been a new SK model for a hundred years. That makes any new SK models worth their weight in gold to a rival nation. And the female leader of the Copper Fangs is one of those who would rather use mecha “for the reason it was made for” (war & tyranny), than just to keep the local demon beast population under control. It also explains the collateral damage, because the Copper Fangs just couldn’t resist destroying as much of the castle as possible before leaving to their home country. You not only want to take the enemy’s advantage, you want to cripple them and leave a hole in their border security as well.
Recall the Edo period as well as most of the ancient & medieval world. They had thinkers like Archimedes and Daedalus. Instead of building fantastic cities and bridges and architecture to help their fellow man, their kings put them to work making war machines and weapons. Not that there were rival nations who wanted those prodigies to work for them, under threat of death if necessary, to foster their dreams of empire. Exceptional intelligence is a curse in any era, because you have those people who seek to pervert their work and dreams to their own ends.
If kidnapping/espionage does not work, assassination is usually the next step, if not total war.
@jhpace1 As I wrote in my post, Fremevia is a strategic ally shielding other countries from the monster hoards. It hasn’t been clearly explained in the anime, but Fremevia and other small buffer zone countries are the only ones that have to deal with them in exchange for peace. Hence I was pretty surprised they went about causing damage, considering they were only there to steal the technology.
If your next door neighbour is doing a good job warding off an alien invasion, you wouldn’t go about crippling their efforts for personal gain, because there’s a lot more on the line than sophisticated technology, which you would have gotten anyway without leaving the place in tatters.
They are probably doing evil for evil/lulz sake…or, based on the events in the novel
Show Spoiler ▼
I’ve read comments from other people that Edgar did not go down as easily in other versions. A shame.
I recall Kerhilt’s used her special move and impaled earlcumber to a tree
Good catch, I certainly didn’t remember Edgar going down so easily from reading the webnovel translations.
The enemy nation the Copper Fangs work for will be revealed in Vol 4, together with their motives for stealing the new mecha.
Vol 3 will have to be covered first though.
Extra LN info:
– The Copper Fangs were ordered to steal the new mechas “by ANY means necessary, with freedom to use all their available resources”. The Fangs were excited at the chance to wreak havoc after staying undercover for so long.
https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2005%20-%2006.jpg
-This spindly mecha, the Wendebadalla, is an assassin-type robot. Built for speed and stealth, its engines are designed to run as quietly as possible, and can be easily taken apart for smuggling in and later reassembly. It’s not made for direct combat though.
https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2005%20-%2035.jpg
-The main reason for establishing the Knight Order around Ernie was for security purposes. The King reasoned that if left unchecked, Ernie could eventually be kidnapped or killed by other nations over his knowledge. Hence an order to protect Ernie at the centre, made up of close associates and outside security provided by the crown.
With this Vol 2 is now adapted. On to Vol 3!
Watching the Motor Rad/Silouette Gears fighting the SK reminds me of ELementals talking on a Battlemech in Battletech.
Any word on how many eps? based on the paced they’ve slowed down a bit. Vol 3 we’ll have
Show Spoiler ▼
Now am curious on how they show the
Show Spoiler ▼
I always imagine them flipping open and charging up similar to the Charged Particle Cannon form ZOids
Still no word on how many episodes this’ll be. The pacing suggests the 1st 5 volumes adapted in 1 cour (have read the novels). Keeping an eye out for any surprises.
I get the Order was made to protect Ernesti, but I was just voicing a case for why Edgar would have made a suitable leader for the unit. And I never meant for my opinions to be taken too seriously, on how a spy network should be operated. Hollywood spies are exciting and fun, but I don’t think it’s wrong to point out where the espionage aspect could be improved, even if the operation was carried out by a more rounded out mercenary group.
No worries; sorry if my post came across as being too critical. ;D
The post was targeted for general readers curious about the LN content.
Zztop, no worries! I think your posting is really useful and offers invaluable insights. After all, the sacrifice for the fast pace would be elements of information, which you’re doing an amazing job of filling in!
Oh… there’s actually enemies in this series beside monsters?!
“I never understood how hi-tech advanced mecha don’t have the mechanisms in place to prevent a hijacking.”
I blame Gundam for starting the trend.
This remind me of the day i finally learn to lock down my ride after my first one got stolen in front of my workplace T.T
Harsh! Hope it wasn’t too heavy on your wallet :'(
Didn’t Mazinger & other Super Robots got stolen too in their old 70 series? I forgot whether it’s Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Grendizer, Getter Robo, Voltus V, or all of them got stolen, but there are certainly episodes where the villains managed to steal the robots or parts of them. And all those shows predate the first Gundam.
Actually, there is a real world precedent for this. Military vehicles, such as Humvees, Tanks, and aircraft are often purposefully built without any kind off anti-theft devices, like starter keys for instance. The reason being that if you’re caught by surprise and have to start up your vehicle quickly, then the last thing you want to do is have to fumble around for a set of keys that you could have very easily lost in the middle of a panic.
Little thing:
A hoard is a collection of things/money – a dragon’s hoard of treasure.
A horde is a group of people/monsters – the Mongol hordes.
Thanks for the catch, Hanover Fist! Will work on fixing the typo.
I like the progress so far. Please continue. Also the Melee battle has a good Chorografie, Long range Weapons used in close Combat, Sword and Shield tactics (when she push his Shield down).. Yes, the one in charge of this Melee fights has done his Homework and has gone “Plus Ultra!” 🙂
The name is not for show “Knight (Sword) and Magic”. I like it
Ernesti could be the Group Leader, but this guy here
https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
has the Dignity to be their Captain
and the Female is their Top Prototype Pilot, right?
Also, when the King want him to be protected, then his Parents should be under protection,too. to prevent “Blackmailing”. But i bet they will use the close siblings around Ernesti to Blackmail him
Ernesti may be an “Mecha” Otaku, but he do not have an cold heart. Even if the King order him to stay down
Also i bet Ernesti will invent an “Programm Script” to prevent this in the future
https://randomc.net/image/Knights%20and%20Magic/Knights%20and%20Magic%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
to protect the Pilots eyes, and perhaps even the Sensor hardware
I love your comments and views of the anime. The concluding thoughts are an especially nice touch! Keep up the good work!
The anime is very fast pace and a LOT of materials have been left out of the anime from LN. Regarding the spy network, they knew Tellestarl was not the completed model (end of episode 3 shows this) and were waiting for a more completed version to be out but the sudden request and deployment of Tellestarl to the Duke’s castle disrupted their plans thus prompting for a more drastic approach. The reason for another country wanting to steal the tech is simple – tech advancement for their own country.
In that world, military strength equals to the might of the country’s robo Knights so the more advance your knight tech is the stronger your country is perceive to be. Not to mention Fremevia do not have much dealings with outside nations in the first place, seeing as how they are isolated by the mountainous region to the other nations. Other nations typically ignores what Fremevia does so long as they are able to continue being the ‘wall’ that protects them. So a new model Knight that is able to produce 1.5 times the strength of existing models would be a very tempting target for ambitious nations.
And the Order of the Silver Phoenix is not an order just for the protection of Ernie, it is also omitted that it is the King’s intention for Ernie to continue his Knight development ‘hobby’ within the Order. The Order of the Silver Phoenix is a little different from the other Orders.
Remember at this point Ernie is still only a 12 yo child and Ernie himself considers himself lucky to have understanding sempais who are able to put up with his selfishness and take his often ‘crazy’ ideas into consideration when building the knights. So the king is placing him in a ‘safe’ environment to continue cultivating the seeds of growth that is Ernie.
It can be said the Order of the Silver Phoenix is for the selfishness of Ernesti, for Ernesti’s continued Knights development ‘hobby’, so it is only appropriate to have Ernesti as the head of the order.
Ep 06:
Subaraschi!!
Wonderfull!!
i am Hyped, and can not wait for the next Episode.
When “Knights of Sidonia” Mechas need their Sound to let us feel their weight, “Knights & Magic” do it visual… You can see the weight of these Mechas.. (for Sound you need to go more deeper!)
I am really sitting on the edge of my “old” Chair.. The Anime/Manga Flame is burning bright.. Thank you
*Bow in respect*
Also this Mana reactors from close looks… are they perhaps ancient still working (living?) Dragon Brains or Hearts?… If yes. I get instant flashbacks of an similar Mecha Anime of my past…
Show Spoiler ▼
in short.. Thank you, i have a great time.. but this Cockpit style triggers memories, wonderful memories