Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m happy to announce we’re diving back into Thunderbolt Fantasy, as a half-dozen nested schemes stand ready to collapse into open violence. While Shang prepares to return from the demon realm to the Void Junction, each member of the Divine Swarm’s alliance stands with daggers bared, ready to either charge their collective foe or simply kill each other.
And of course, much of the credit for this fraught state of affairs goes to our friendly neighborhood wizard, the Enigmatic Gale. Having somehow insinuated his way into the company of villains, Lin has swiftly planted an entire sowing season’s worth of doubt-seeds, manipulating the understandable apprehensions underlining this alliance of cultists, witches, demons, madmen, and well-meaning yet severely misguided soldiers. Their mutual enmity towards the sword-sealing, fun-spoiling Shang has kept them tenuously aligned so far, but with Xing Hai’s scheme on the verge of fruition, it’s clear either Jun Po or Lou Zhen is about to crack. Let’s see what allies become enemies and enemies become allies as we return to Thunderbolt Fantasy!
Episode 9
It feels hard to see a way out of this situation for Jun Po. He’s just too straightforward of a soldier to hang with these schemers, and it often seems like he’s simply seeking a good death in service to his people. Given his values, I could see him seeking to die with honor rather than continue to serve a dishonorable ruler
Really hoping this OP isn’t overselling our climax, and that we’re in for another large-scale battle against a giant opponent. Obviously this show’s fights are excellent on the whole, but it’s particularly fun when they pull the camera back to facilitate a bunch of puppets facing off with a kaiju-sized foe
“The Cross-Time Guardian.” Mastering these time manipulation powers would certainly make Shang’s job a lot easier
We begin by checking in with Xing Hai and her allies. Azibelpher confirms that the Void Junction is a keen conduit of the demon realm’s energies
I like this concept of the various realms being connected by plant-like branches or “Spiritual Veins.” I actually employed a similar worldbuilding concept for a DnD campaign, as it’s a useful way of implying that travel between realms is possible but naturally limited, facilitating the idea of either a schemed invasion between realms or a guardian defending their passageways
Apparently their first time-scrying mirror is almost finished cooking
Jun Po informs Piaomiao of their master’s decision regarding Zhao Jun Lin’s potential resurrection. Even Piaomiao seems concerned, which might be the first time we’ve seen any deviation between his will and that of the Divine Swarm at large. Perhaps the prelude to a full split in our favorite death cult
“The royal family doesn’t even consider our foreign enemies a threat!” Piaomiao’s explanations do not bear up under scrutiny. I like that while most members of this alliance are more easily swayed by Lin’s machinations, Piaomiao’s faith is shaken by Jun Po’s well-reasoned sincerity
Incredible staring contest between the two of them, replete with swooping zooms on their eyes and swirling pans between them
“If I betrayed the Order of the Divine Swarm on top of everything, I would be invalidating my entire existence.” In classic Urobuchi fashion, Jun Po lives and dies by what remains of his ideals. Even if loyalty to the Divine Swarm is a betrayal of his initial pledge, it is still a form of loyalty, something he holds as sacred even when directed towards an unworthy cause. To betray them as well, even in service of a greater justice, would destroy his sense of self
You can see why Lin finds him so easy to deal with. Most people don’t outright announce their own levers of control
Piaomiao raises a quite reasonable point – that Shang is too reckless in his heroism to be trusted with an artifact like the Sorcerous Sword Index, which in the wrong hands could easily lead to humanity’s destruction. Heroism can itself be an abdication of a larger responsibility, a sentiment that Urobuchi has previously explored in Fate/Zero and Madoka (wherein he ultimately, consistently sides with the hope of heroism over the responsibility of pragmatism)
Piaomiao seems genuinely determined to convince Jun Po they’re making the correct choices here. I think he actually likes the guy
He also seems to respect Shang’s strength, saying he could see Shang winning even without his swords
Meanwhile, Jun Po’s men hunt Shang and his companions, who are now sneaking around the Void Junction. Unsurprisingly, Lin can’t imagine why soldiers would remain loyal even in such strange circumstances
Love the “character acting” as our little Lin nendoroid makes a variety of loose hand gestures
Back at demon witch HQ, Xing Hai explains that her sister need merely recall a place from her memories to be transported there in truth
But Shang arrives in the nick of time! The mirror is tossed aside!
But Lang is hesitating to break it! What’s your goddamn problem, Lang!?
Quite a fun little exchange of blows between Xing Hai and Shang. Seems like it’d be tricky to choreography a fight for a whip-wielding combatant, considering you actually need to move her quickly enough to keep the whip afloat
Azibelpher’s apparently having a grand old time with these chaotic complications
Lang is discovered by Can Yun, who urges him to follow
They are tragically immediately found by Jun Po and Piaomiao
The cinematography of these fights does an excellent job of keeping things coherent in spite of the low lighting, extravagant costuming, and constantly fast-moving characters. A lot of that comes down to the intentionality of the cuts – frequent quick closeups both raise the sense of impact and also provide a dramatic guide through the scene, emphasizing the reveal of new weapons or changes in posture that precede each shift in the momentum
This feels particularly important for Piaomiao, whose retractable scythe-thing is an inherently complicated and difficult-to-parse force on the battlefield
His whirlwind attacks provide a natural counterpoint to Jun Po, whose heavy, impactful strikes echo his straightforward personality
The activated void mirror also lends this fight a sense of clear structure, a specific goal everyone is attempting to achieve. Good actions scenes tend to possess internal narratives of their own, not just contests of power
Shang’s party eventually flees with half the mirror, after which Lou Zhen arrives to berate all his useless allies
We then cut to Xing Hai demanding Lin confess his part in Shang’s attack
“Well, I can’t blame you for being suspicious.” Lin’s such a delightful stinker
But at this point, Xing Hai wisely doesn’t give a fuck about Lin’s excuses anymore. She just wants him to be consumed by the Seven Blasphemous Deaths
Always a trip seeing folks get seduced by the Aoi Yuuki sword
We then jump to demonic seduction for the rest of the party, as Azibelpher attempts to woo Lang with the promise of the time travel mirror. I do appreciate this season giving Lang something to do dramatically, as he’s often felt like a superfluous character
Delightful sequence as Shang and Lang plummet through the space-time cosmos. I guess we’ve already jumped between dimensions and visited Hell this season, what’s a little dash of time travel for seasoning?
Feels like Azibelpher’s doing this mostly because he dislikes following another demon’s directions. Basically the opposite of Jun Po – a man you can always trust to betray any theoretical principles
Thus Lang returns to the moment he has forever regretted, while Shang travels back to the very origins of the sorcerous swords
And Done
So our desperate heroes clash and intertwine, traveling from the intersection of all worlds to the very moment their own stories began! Though for as much fun as it is to follow Lin and Shang, it was clearly the villains who got the lion’s share of great moments here, demonstrating the complexity of motives that simultaneously unite and divide them. Jun Po remains a vivid addition to the cast, and I was actually quite impressed with Piaomiao here, who rose above his frequent henchman status to actually connect and even sympathize with Jun Po’s perspective. It’s all a delicious mess of contrasting stratagems, with that lingering threat remaining of what exactly Lou Zhen will do when he learns of the Seven Blasphemous Deaths’ current situation. You’ll have to fight Lin for it now, buddy!
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