The Eminence in Shadow 2nd Season

Episodes 21-23

These first three episodes are a perfect microcosm of what makes The Eminence in Shadow so much fun. "Run, if you value your life. The Frenzy has begun. The moon is red. We're out of time." What could better encapsulate this series than Cid running around saving people from a zombie apocalypse, not because he cares about human lives but rather just so he can say cool-sounding, ominous lines while striking a pose?

This new arc is dark comedy at its finest. Here we are, in this ultra-serious, life-or-death situation. Claire and Mary are having an adventure filled with emotion and pathos—one trying to save her brother and the other to stop her lady from becoming the monster she always struggled not to become. Yukime and Juggernaut are in the midst of their power struggle—both trying to overthrow the Vampire Queen (and each other) to become the sole ruler of the lawless city. Even Beta and Rose are working on an important task—raiding the vampires' library to learn more about the vampire's origins and connection to Diablos. Meanwhile, Cid is looting the treasury for personal profit and spouting the same four lines repeatedly to everyone he runs across just for the hell of it. This truly is Cid's world—everyone else is just living in it.

While these first few episodes start largely unconnected to the previous season, with Cid in a new place surrounded by new people with problems unrelated to the cult and its ambitions, the third episode does a great job of making the arc feel like more than (admittedly entertaining) filler by bringing back arguably the most important character in the story: Aurora.

When it comes down to it, Cid's eminence in shadow role is part of a trifecta—along with the hero and the villain. Couched within the framework of a stereotypical fantasy, Alpha is supposed to be the hero and Aurora the villain. However, due to Cid massively overplaying the role of The Eminence in Shadow, he has twisted the story to the point where both the hero and villain are his allies.

Thus, Aurora wishes to protect Claire for Cid's sake. So, she takes control of Claire and fights to keep her alive. This reinforces the danger she represents even as she protects everyone from the Vampire Queen—especially as she has seemingly learned "I am Atomic" after seeing it only once. But more than that, this whole situation serves as a great way of bringing Aurora back into the story on a more permanent basis; she is now present whenever Claire is—giving us chances for both comedy and drama going forward.

In the end, these episodes are filled with great action and deadpan dark comedy—and are just pure fun. They are a great start to the season that leaves me hopeful for all that is to come.

Episode 21 Rating:

Episode 22 Rating:

Episode 23 Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I love that the repeated line joke is taken to the extreme. When people continue questioning him, he can't even think up new lines to say, so he just repeats himself with slightly different wording. Then, he even says them to Mary—the one who originally said them to him. It's hilarious.

• But my favorite gag? Claire thinks that every short-haired male corpse they come across is her brother—and then gets annoyed when she realizes they are not. (I wonder if she has prosopagnosia.)

• The relationship between Aurora and the vampires was set up way back in her first appearance, where she attacks Cid with countless spears made of blood.

• As Rose still doesn't know that Cid and Shadow are the same person, does that mean that only the "named" members have that information? I mean, Nu clearly knows, but I wonder if 664 and 665 know or not.

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

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