The Pilot’s Love Song Episode 7 | TFP Review
EmperorBrandon: Here we have the first real action-packed episode, starting the halfway point of the season off with a bang.
Well, it was no surprise seeing this coming. The real question was whether one or both of them would die. Micchan sure went out looking extraordinarily cool. Keeping his calm like that when he knew he was dead, he helped keep Chiharu from panicking over him and ultimately got her to safety.
Sensuifu: With the intense aerial barrage Micchan and Chiharu had to evade, I’m glad they didn’t resort to melodramatic shouting and panicked reactions. The episode was actually executed pretty well imo, if not equally as good as the movie’s scenes. Interesting that Ignacio is actually Claire’s bodyguard. Kind of makes me think some of that hatred he has for Karl stems from jealousy.
bctaris: Agreed on all counts.
And yeah, Ignacio is explained, all of a sudden. So I suppose he was always in with Kalel’s class just to keep an eye on him. (Which, kind of figured in one way or another, as we also saw him as a child in Kalel’s flashback.) It’s odd though–who else knows who Kalel is here? He’s only on Isla because the government back home knew he’d escaped as a child and they wanted him out of the picture now that’s he’s older–and they give him an out, which happened to be the same place as Claire, who they also didn’t have a need for, except as a figurehead for Isla. So in comes Ignacio, who’s lack of flying skill in the beginning now makes sense: he’s sent as her bodyguard, but especially against Kalel, so they put him in with his group with little or no preparation. Or did he put himself there, being the only one of Clarie’s guardians on Isla who knows? (I’d thought it possible that there was some conspiracy to get Kal to leave on Isla to sabotage the venture by eventually murdering Claire. And Ignacio and her other protectors represent a faction. But if so, why didn’t he/they kill Kal right when he came to Isla?)
Maybe I think too much?
Sensuifu: I knew some good would come of this series. 
Here are a few more random thoughts- btw, I know nothing of the source(s) so all these are only speculative on my part:
Ignacio doesn’t kill Kalel because he is probably aware of a plot conducted by the Balsteros gov’t prior to Nina Viento’s ‘rule’. In other words, he probably has a suspicion that Nina Viento’s coup was only for show and that some other person/family within Balsteros was behind pulling the strings. That’s maybe why he’s been ‘hired’ as a bodyguard to ‘Nina Viento’, despite being unsure whether the truth he knows differs from what happened to Kalel. His job as a bodyguard is probably only to keep him quiet and distract him from further learning the real truth. By keeping him busy in protecting Nina Viento, he’s made/forced to believe the fabricated plot despite maybe having a gut feeling something’s wrong.
Claire, as a ‘figurehead’, was used by this unknown person/family, to oust Kalel and his family from his empire. Perhaps losing her power is reason why she isn’t needed anymore. They just needed a scapegoat. That scene with Ulshyrra in the car somewhat hints this could be true. In essence, Claire doesn’t know the real facts either, other than having destroyed the former ruling family. Kalel is headhunting for her because all he knows was the figure behind the takeover, yet at the same time, Claire isn’t aware of the reasons why she had to do it either (was she made to believe that Kalel’s family was evil? Brainwashing? Magic experimentation?)
Kalel’s only mission is to seek revenge against this Nina Viento and avenge his mother’s/family’s name. Like Ignacio and Claire, he knows nothing other than that ‘Nina Viento’ was behind it all, when in fact that isn’t the case. Claire has nothing against him, even if she has some hints about his background. She’ll keep loving him even if she knows his full identity. Still, Kalel will need to find out the real truth behind the Wind Revolution before he can trust Claire. But since Claire doesn’t know, it’ll take somebody else to clarify the truth. That person might be Ignacio. But again, he too must verify the real meaning behind the Wind Revolution to help defend Claire. The person who might finally lead to answers could be Admiral Luis.
There’s a lot of different tangents this show can steer us in; it’s just a matter of how they’ll intertwine all these possibilities while keeping the romance between the many couples strong, as they’ve already done with Micchan and Chiharu. So far, the show’s living up to it’s title and I’m liking it.
EmperorBrandon: About Claire losing her wind power… I have to wonder if there is some particular reason behind it (could be a mental thing like guilt), and if she may somehow gain it back later. The thought of her using it to save Kal-el, and potentially exposing her “true identity” to him in doing so, came to mind as I was watching this episode.
bctaris: Ah, good point. That does seem in the cards. She’s going to save poor Kalel’s life just to break his heart.
This piece [about what Claire knows], at least, I think we can be pretty sure about. We saw in her own flashback how she had no idea of the impact of what she had helped do in the Wind Revolution until she saw the hatred in young Kalel’s face in the square. A scene that was meant, in effect, to signal the end of her innocence. (Perhaps, given EB’s suggestion of ‘mental block’ it’s where her power ended.) She was simply a poor, ignorant peasant girl–I don’t think anything more magical or nefarious than her custodians telling her she was the keeper of this mythological, and now nationalistic, power was needed to get her to do their bidding, just pointing in the direction of the ‘bad guys’ and letting her loose.
What’s less clear is in what state she left home. She had no power, but was still a figurehead. I’m thinking she was seen as irrelevant and not seen as a threat to the powers that be, unlike Kalel. Or was she? Luis, in any case, knew enough to get hold of her, either to keep her safe, or also in a hope to use her. You’re right that he probably knows more than anyone here.
And interesting idea that the Sky Clan could be in cahoots with Balesteros in some way or another.
