Aldnoah.Zero

Episode 20

For most of the series the Boy Wonders have been the only characters showing much real brainpower. Beginning with this episode, however, one of the adults finally starts showing some cunning. Despite Inaho and Slaine's superlative mental efforts, that adult could end up being the tipping point of the series' end plot run.

That person is, of course, Count Mazuurek, who is the only Vers Knight so far who has been shown to be open-minded, thoughtful, and if not modest than at least not gratingly arrogant. (Actually, that's not entirely fair, as Saazbaum was open-minded enough to accept Slaine, even beyond the debt he felt he owed Slaine because of Slaine's father's actions.) Granted, some of the credit for Mazuurek's actions here belongs to Inaho for pointing out the possibility that the Asseylum that everyone had seen on broadcasts is a fake, but Mazuurek is the one who comes up with a way to connive himself into a position to address the princess directly and then corner the disguised Lemrina with her words – and, best of all, without her even realizing that she has been cornered. He is also the one who comes up with a trick to deduce where the real princess must be and figure out a way to get an important token passed on to her. And you can bet money that the real Asseylum getting a memory jog from that token is going to have some complicating consequences next episode.

Lemrina's situation is also deteriorating further. Slaine clearly sympathizes her, but the implication lingers that she is picking up distressing signals from Slaine, which is driving her more towards desperation. A certain discovery she makes at the end of the episode will, I expect, power her over the edge. Slaine also seems to be setting himself up further for a tragic fall, as he is now straying into “I want to make this world for Asseylum even if I cannot end up living in it” territory.

Things are not cool on the Earth Forces side, either. The name characters eventually get out of the three-way attack not by Inaho's brilliance but because Captain Magbaredge drops the Deucalion right in their midst. Because Inaho got denied there, he has to show his super-awesomeness by helping the bridge crew compensate for sensors which got damaged in the rescue. The episode does, however, show the first sign that the writing is, indeed, going to play the “side effects of the super-eye are Inaho's fatal flaws” card suggested in an earlier episode, and once again the Earth Forces leadership shows questionable decision-making. But that is, of course, because they did not consult Inaho!

Sarcasm aside, the series continues to offer no shortage of story elements to chew on and is definitely ramping up its drama side. That has contributed to making the second half a distinctly better-written set of episodes than the first half was (at least so far). Persisting flaws and its shaky foundation will prevent Aldnoah.Zero from ever being considered a great series overall, but I can now confidently expect good and involving things from the remaining four episodes.

Rating: B

Aldnoah.Zero is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.