Trigun Stargaze

Episode 11

Long-term Trigun fans would be forgiven for throwing up their hands in frustration at the opening few moments of Stargaze's penultimate episode. Last week, we ended with Knives suddenly preventing Vash from executing Legato Bluesummers, appearing like a shiny, levitating deus ex machina with the sole intention of derailing plot expectations. The upset of Legato's survival is short-lived: Knives immediately decapitates his blue-haired sycophant, presumably for the crime of attempting to emotionally disturb Vash. Eh? There's either some ill-considered galaxy-brain nonsense going on, or perhaps there's some method to the madness? Please bear with me here, I've had to take longer than usual to ponder this review because I'm struggling to decide if the writers know what they're doing, or if the last few plot twists have been symptoms of terminal idiocy.

It's clear now that Trigun Stargaze is mainly running on vibes and emotions rather than any kind of coherent plot. I mean, Vash is supposed to be the main character, but what has he actually achieved all season? Almost nothing; he's been completely passive. Even in this episode, he finds himself captured by his brother – again. That's been on at least three occasions now that Knives has incarcerated him somehow. At least Vash seems to have some kind of underlying plan, but will it be yet another in a long line of contrived deus ex machinas, of which this episode features several? Take Milly and Meryl's route onto the ark via motorbike and sandworm, for one particularly egregious (if at least fairly amusing) example.

We can at least take a shot at assessing Trigun Stargaze from what now appears to be its core emotional theme: abandonment. Upon discovering the existence of the preceding Independent Plant Tesla, and the SEEDS crew's role in vivisecting her, Knives immediately felt both rage and a form of abandonment towards his mother figure, Rem. We learn now that Rem, via inaction, had consented to her colleagues dismantling Tesla's living body. This led directly to Knives ' judgment against humanity, and his causing the “Big Fall.” Note that he never told Vash of Rem's role in this, presumably intending to protect his brother from this knowledge. He's kept this a secret for 150 years, and it's only once Vash is subsumed completely into his subconscious that he learns the truth.

This version of Knives is different from the Knives of the previous anime and manga. He doesn't recruit the “Gung Ho Guns” to specifically make Vash's life hell here. If anything, he seems to want to keep Vash protected. This is what Legato completely failed to understand. It's clear now, if it wasn't already, that Knives cares for no one else in the universe except for Vash, even if his “love” for his brother is purely selfish and possessive. He'll willingly discard all of his minions without a moment's hesitation. He doesn't care that Leonof, Midvalley, Wolfwood, and Livio have all defected. He callously abandons the cute little critters that were the true bearers of Ninelives' armor. He decapitated Legato, and now he also rejects poor little Elendira, despite her half-Plant nature.

Elendira's breakdown as she realizes how little her idolized leader cares for her is quite heartbreaking. I can see how hanging around the pacifist-to-a-fault Vash has rubbed off on Meryl, who, despite having been almost skewered by Elendira's nails, still approaches the sobbing girl to hug her. That's even considering how Roberto met his end in Stampede in the same place, at the end of one of Elendira's nails. It takes a lot of guts to show such love and forgiveness. Instead of a murderous psychopath, Meryl sees a child abandoned by the one she loves most.

Knives has abandoned everyone who looked up to him as a leader, as he's laser-focused on his own goals, which begin to fall apart here. His grand plan to grant sentience to every surviving Plant by making them Independents falls apart horrifically, which leaves him with only Vash and the memories of Tesla buried within his body. Considering what happens to Knives' extended body at the end of the episode, I can't imagine this ending well for him.

From a sheer emotional perspective, a lot is going on in this episode, and I like that. However, I feel it's all coming a little too late in the narrative to make as much of an impact as it could have. It doesn't help that Knives' new form looks awful, like some 1990s video game boss. Has he been deliberately modelled after The House of the Dead's Magician character? Because that's all I can think of when I see him.

I'm still unconvinced by the decision to take the responsibility of Legato's death away from Vash. It robs him of foundational character development, making Stargaze feel rather… lightweight in comparison to its predecessors. As much as I appreciate some of the more thoughtful, emotional aspects of this episode, I can't help but feel that, compared to Stampede, Stargaze as a whole has felt undercooked and underdeveloped.

Rating:

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Trigun Stargaze is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.