The Eminence in Shadow 2nd Season

Episode 31

With this episode, we finally reach the end of Rose's character. At her core, Rose is an inherently selfless individual—putting others' needs and wants before her own. When first introduced to her, she is a champion of all—determined to protect everyone, regardless of skill or noble blood. However, events force her to shift from that stance to doing all she can to protect her people, specifically—killing her soldiers and even her father in pursuit of this goal. Even then, Perv Asshat sizes control of Oriana, and she is forced to revise the breadth of what she can protect even further. While she still harbors vague dreams of liberating her kingdom with Shadow Garden's help, she mainly focuses on protecting her teammates, 664 and 665. But this goal is beyond her reach as John Smith easily wipes the floor with all three of them. Finally, her goal shifts to protecting one person: her mother.

Rose has gone from believing she could protect everyone to giving her whole future up to save the life of a single person she cares for. Then, she discovers that her mother is an accomplice, not a hostage. She's betrayed her country, her friends, her dreams, and even herself—and gained nothing in return. It's no wonder this breaks her mentally. The tragedy of her life is on stage for all to see.

However, losing everything little by little has forced Rose to whittle down what she truly cares about to a bare minimum. And in the end, she decides on two things she cannot—will not—give up on: love and revenge.

Cid is, in her eyes, the one person who never gives up on her—to selflessly care about her and her happiness. The love he has (inadvertently) shown her time and again—even as she has rejected it because of duty or social position—is the one constant in her life. Here, at the end, with nothing else, she refuses to give it up, come what may. But before she can run away with Cid, she has to get revenge on the person who ruined her life and her kingdom: Perv Asshat. And by finally focusing on herself first, Rose may inadvertently save her kingdom and regain all she has lost—if everything isn't wiped out by an archdemon anyway.

Of course, Rose never would have found herself if it weren't for a conversation with the true Cid—rather than Shadow or the bumbling idiot character he often pretends to be. But as much as this conversation is for her benefit—teaching her how to deal with her grief and loss and move on from it—it also serves as a capstone for Cid's arc this season.

Cid has had to split the world into two camps in his mind: things that are important and things that are not. This is because he has found the world full of distractions—things that pull him off his chosen path to become the Eminence in Shadow. But just because he has made it a point to create this separation doesn't mean he always does so successfully.

In fact, that is what this season has largely been about. Cid's envy and greed distracted him from being Shadow for a while—and he even hurt his friends. However, his subsequent trip to the Oriana Kingdom and Rose's plight have helped him reaffirm what's important to him. As he puts it, it's the things he can see in the moonlight. And who is by his side, standing with him in the moonlight? The Seven Shades—his truest friends across this world and beyond.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• What kind of church builds its dais so the front row can't see what's going on up there?

• I like the visual storytelling of having Cid cut off the Arch Demon's arm to show us that it's actually mechanical.

• Another cool bit of visual storytelling? Showing us 559 with her hair up so we can see she is actually an elf.

• Cid really does his best to support Rose—both as Shadow and Cid. I love how he plays the "Moonlight Sonata" instead of "Here Comes the Bride" at her wedding to help her keep her resolve and remember what is truly important.

• In this week's Kage-jitsu!, Epsilon finds it hard to concentrate on both her voluptuous figure and deep questions that require a lot of thought at the same time.

The Eminence in Shadow 2nd Season is currently streaming on Hidive.

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