Random Curiosity

Summary:

Dressed as the Red Whirlwind, Lancelot manages to rally the crowd against the guards and Cerimon, but one of the archers then shoots Lancelot in the arm. After Cerimon lets the men falsely accused of being the Red Whirlwind go, Lancelot decides to end this. Grabbing the flaming arrow that he was shot by, Lancelot declares that the Red Whirlwind will disappear, but the wind will blow again - a new wind that brings hope. He then drops the flaming arrow into pit of oil and straw, causing a large fireball to erupt and envelope him. Juliet desperately wants to go help Lancelot, but Curio and Francisco won’t let her go. While this is going on, Romeo sees the plume of smoke from the fire and comes to investigate. He is shocked to learn of the death of the Red Whirlwind from Cerimon, but when he flies back into the air, he catches sight of Juliet standing nearby with only Cordelia beside her. Hearing him approaching, Cordelia hides herself as Romeo expresses his relief that Juliet is safe and explains that he had thought that she was the Red Whirlwind. Juliet finally tells him that it’s not possible for her to see him again, and when he asks why, she takes off her wig and reveals that she is the real Red Whirlwind. Before Romeo can do anything else, Juliet jumps backwards off the balcony and lands safely on a bridge below, allowing her a path to run away.

The next day, Benvolio tells Romeo about how his father Vittorio feels that the military police went too far with their attempt to burn to death innocent people. However, during the parliamentary session later, Montague introduces a new law that grants the military police independent authority to punish rebellious citizens and forms a vigilante corps under the direct control of the police. When Vittorio speaks out against this because it implies that martial law will be permanent, Montague strikes down his argument by talking about public order. And to punish him for objecting, Montague strips Vittorio of his nobility. Afterwards, Romeo questions his father about all this, and his father says that what the nobles need right now is power. Juliet meanwhile is still trying to get over what happened, and she visits Lancelot’s family with Antonio, Francisco, and Curio. Lancelot’s wife has decided to move away, and she tells her children that their father is staying behind in the city. When it’s time for them to leave, Juliet tries to tell Lancelot’s wife to travel safely, and she responds by asking Juliet to make the wind blow. She believes that thatperson lives on inside Juliet, so Juliet should cheer up. Juliet cries after hearing these words.

Since Juliet still feels that Lancelot died in her place, Curio reminds her that Lancelot entrusted everything to her. In addition, Francisco feels that at the time, Lancelot was the real Red Whirlwind. The group then encounters a person bearing a special crest - one that signifies an ally - who informs them that Vittorio is going to be assassinated and guesses that it’s an order from Montague himself. That night, Vittorio’s carriage suddenly comes to a stop and their driver attacks them. When Vittorio, his wife, and Benvolio try to run away, they are surrounded by a group of armored men with swords. Fortunately, Juliet, Curio, and Francisco arrive in time to save them, but Juliet has to make a dive to stop a thrown dagger from hitting Vittorio. This leaves her vulnerable to the assassin, however right as he’s about to stab her, a loud neighing interrupts everything. Juliet thinks that Romeo is here to save her, but it turns out to be someone she doesn’t recognize at all.

Preview

As I had suspected, Lancelot had to die to show to the police that the Red Whirlwind is gone. He died in a very noble way, particularly with the speech he made, and although they didn’t show a body (as per the Mai-HiME/Otome principle), I get the feeling that this isn’t the type of series to bring him back - especially not after Juliet spent most of the episode feeling bad about his death. I didn’t really enjoy watching those parts very much, so my favorite scenes of the episode were when Juliet took off her wig to explain that she was indeed the Red Whirlwind, and when the assassination attempt occurred at the end of the episode. I actually cheered out loud when Tybalt showed up to save Juliet, partially because Romeo didn’t accomplish much this episode so someone else had to step up, and partially because Tybalt made such a great entrance.
Speaking of Romeo not accomplishing anything, the preview for next week’s episode with the shot of Juliet slowly closing her eyes has me thinking that we might finally get to see a kiss between Romeo and Juliet. At the very least, they might get to share a tender moment together.