Random Curiosity

Summary:
Thinking about how Waldo had said that he cannot protect Louise, Saito is moping around with tears in his eyes. Louise finds him alone, staring off at the sunset, but Saito just wants her to leave him along. She tries to comfort him by saying that Waldo is a commander of the royal guard, so losing doesn’t mean anything. Louise wants him to protect her, but he thinks that Waldo could do it better. When she tries to make him get a hold of himself, Saito lashes out by telling her to shut up. As she’s slowly walking away, Louise tells Saito that she’s going to marry Waldo. This of course doesn’t make Saito feel any better, so he’s still moping around when Guiche comes by later. What finally gets him out of this depression is being suddenly attacked by Fouquet and her golem. As this is occurring, Waldo and Louise set off for the airship, with Waldo telling Louise that Saito and Guiche went home without saying why. Waldo informs her of the dire situation in Albion where the Nobles faction has seized almost all of the country, and the Prince of Wales is the only surviving royal family member. Still, he tells Louise not to worry because he’ll protect her. Those words once again remind Louise of Saito saying the same thing, but she thinks of that as a lie now.
Meanwhile, Saito and Guiche are having trouble bringing down Fouquet’s golem, but fortunately they get some help in the form of Kirche, Tabitha, and Sylph. And with the nearby townspeople coming to see what’s going on, Fouquet decides to make her escape, satisfied with the fact that she kept Saito and company here. Saito finds out too late that Louise and Waldo are gone and that the airship has taken off. After Kirche tells him that Albion is actually a floating continent, Saito yells out Louise’s name in the direction the airship headed off in. Onboard, Louise feels like she heard Saito’s voice. Noticing Louise’s preoccupation with her familiar, Waldo reiterates that he’ll protect her. As the thought of Saito telling her to shut up floats through Louise’s head, she decides once and for all to accept Waldo’s marriage proposal. Louise thinks to herself that this is ok because Waldo is strong and kind, and is neither a familiar nor a commoner. Back at La Rochelle, Saito figures out that with Fouquet involved in this too, Louise must be in danger. The ground then starts moving again, making the group think that Fouquet is back, but it’s actually only Guiche’s familiar Verdandi.
Louise and Waldo arrive in Albion and head for a church where they find several armored knights hiding inside. The knight who approaches them is suspicious, so Louise shows him the ring that Henrietta gave her. In response, the knight takes off his glove and reveals a matching ring - the Wind Ruby. When the Wind and Water Ruby rings are brought together, they produce a bright rainbow light. The knight who is currently wearing the Wind Ruby is the Prince of Wales himself. Wales and Louise return to his room where she hands him the message from Henrietta. He reads it and then gives the letter Henrietta wanted back to Louise. When Louise asks if Henrietta encouraged him to defect in the letter, Wales tells her about a group called the Reconquista which is manipulating the Nobles faction in this Albion civil war. Since he is the Prince of Albion, Wales knows that he has to protect his country, even if it means putting his own life on the line - that’s what he wants Louise to tell Henrietta. Louise finds Waldo waiting for her as she leaves Wales’ room. He first confirms that she has the letter and then suggests that they get married right here. Louise tries to resist, but Waldo grabs her from behind and says that she is necessary to them, the Reconquista. Louise realizes that Waldo is part of that group, but when she tries to run away, she bumps into a blonde man who calls her the descendent of the Void and hypnotizes her with his ring.
With Wales presiding over the ceremony, Waldo is set to wed Louise, whose body is now being controlled by the blonde man from the shadows. Just as Louise is silently screaming for someone to save her, Saito’s voice knocks Louise out of the trance. It seems that Saito found them thanks to the Water Ruby ring. Specifically, Verdandi doesn’t forget the smell of a jewel and was able to track down the place. Wales thinks Saito is a bad guy and calls for his men to seize him. As Louise is trying to clear things up, Waldo pushes her out of the way and stabs the prince through the chest. Wales realizes too late that Waldo is part of the Reconquista and falls to the ground, dying. When Louise rushes to his side, Wales uses his last bit of strength to give her the Wind Ruby ring. Saito and the guards are ready to avenge Wales, but Waldo knocks them all away in one swing. When Waldo tries to make one more appeal for Louise to join him, she refuses because he’s not the Waldo she knew. Saito is unable to forgive Waldo for playing with Louise’s feelings, though Waldo just scoffs because he considers it foolish that a commoner like Saito fell in love with a noble.
His anger rising, Saito tells Waldo that he is neither a commoner nor a noble and he has neither family nor home - he’s just Louise’s familiar. Saito’s power changes Derfflinger into a shiny new sword capable of absorbing Waldo’s magic. He uses it to pierce through another one of Waldo’s magic attacks and manages to land a hit. Waldo is hurt, but is also content that he accomplished at least two of his three goals. The two were taking care of Wales and stealing Henrietta’s letter from Louise. The last goal was Louise herself, and since he can’t have her, he decides to destroy the church with her in it. Saito protects Louise, but the two are ultimately saved by Kirche and Tabitha’s levitation magic. In the aftermath, the group rides Sylph back home, and Louise is dreaming with tears in her eyes. She remembers how Waldo had comforted her on the boat when she was little, but the Waldo in her memory turns into Saito telling her that he’s here for her. When Louise opens her eyes, she realizes that Saito is kissing her. She doesn’t fight it and the two ride off together in the direction of the two moons.

Preview:

Well I didn’t expect the Prince of Wales to die. Here I thought Henrietta might get some sort of happy ending with him, but that’s not the case. In fact, aside from the fact that Saito and Louise finally realized their feelings for each other, the bad guys won out this week. I assume the blonde guy is Cromwell and the ring he used on Louise was the Ring of Andvari. He looks like he’ll be a big player in next week’s episode too. The Reconquista now have Henrietta’s letter and who knows what kind of trouble that’s going to cause.
But it was the SaitoXLouise that gave this a bittersweet ending instead of just a bitter one. Actually, I thought the kiss was a bit sudden, and maybe the two of them could have used a bit more relationship development…but I guess this is what we’ll have to settle for since this show is only 13 episodes. And of course that means that there are only two more episodes.