The Legend of the Legendary Heroes 8 – Polar Opposites

This episode offered a lot in the way of political intrigue that in the grand scheme of things really doesn’t seem that important. Suffice it to say, Miran Froaude staged a rebellion in Estabul to and trick Sion into sending forces into other territories and eliminate the anti-king factions. In the end, Sion saw through Miran’s plan but did little in the way of stopping it. Despite my overly simplistic recap, I really did enjoy this episode for a couple of reasons.

I wish I had a nickname as cool as Crimson Fingered Claugh

Though the fighting in this episode wasn’t on par with some of the scenes from episode 3(though it looks like that may be resolved in the next episode) it was interesting enough. For the first time we finally got to see one of Sion’s original generals, in this case Claugh Klom, do something worth talking about. Though the battlefield scenes featuring Klom single-handedly destroying Estabul’s army were well done, I was disappointed we were unable to see Klom fight Froaude. I realize that it’s probably still too early in the series for their inevitable fight, but the way that scene ended, with the princess stopping the fight, was a bit of a letdown.

Without Ryner or Ferris, this was the highlight of the episode

Another thing that made this episode worthwhile was the speed and clarity in which it was done. Though there probably wasn’t enough material to make the rebellion last two episodes, I was impressed with how much was presented in such a short period of time. In my opinion, too many shows spend too much time explaining things to their viewers over and over again, but this show doesn’t stop to explain what is going on, and I admire that. Sure, you could see some of the twists, like Salawell’s betrayal and Miran’s eventual interference, coming from a mile away, but those are minor complaints. With that said, this episode did take a few too many liberties with the plot. Among other things, there was no explanation as to how Froaude or Klom got into the fortress by themselves though I suppose we are to infer they are just that good. This may be a result of the amount of material presented in this episode or just a deficiency from the original source, but it is something that is becoming more noticeable as this series continues.

The Brain Trust

Perhaps the most interesting part of this episode was the last scene featuring Sion in his office. He continues to walk the path toward the dark side, but he seems to understand that. Even though he half heartedly tried to distance himself from the events in Estabul by claiming he saved a few lives by sending Klom, instead of Froaude, he understood that he was just splitting hairs. This was all in stark contrast to the thought process used by Noa Ehn, the leader of the revolt, who was willing to sacrifice her own life for the safety of her people.

Hopefully, she will remain around for a while as she provides a nice contrast to Sion

In addition, Iris’ drawings depicting Ryner and Ferris were cute, but more importantly, they revealed that Sion didn’t actually believe the legendary relics were actually real. This certainly gives more credence to the thought that Lucile is the one pulling the strings, but that was pretty clear to begin with. Despite being mentioned in passing a few times, Lucile, himself, hasn’t made an appearance in three or four episodes, yet his character remains one of this show’s focal points. Even though his only real interaction with the main cast has been with Sion (that we know of), I still can’t go an episode without thinking how Lucile is viewing Sion’s actions. Seeing as how Sion is still alive, it would seem that Lucile still approves of his rule, but I can’t help but wonder when that will change.

The end of this episode revealed a lot about Sion