What They Say:
“Memories Burning Crimson”
After encountering the Ashen Chevalier and witnessing the might of the Empire’s hero, Rean Schwarzer, Lavi and gang have a short layover in Celdic before their next train. But waiting there for them is the Intelligence Division’s Lechter.
“The Truth Coated in Lead”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Erebonia has never been too kind to anyone. This counts to both its citizens and outsiders. This is a lesson that Lavi and her crew will learn the hard way. They are way out of their league as they come face to face with the Ironbloods. It’s exciting as this is the first chance for the crew to show off what they are made of. They have been made to be in the middle of North Ambria’s forces. Being in Erebonia was more than they chew and everyone knew it. And we will get back to that point in a bit. Lavi and her crew have been traveling to Erebonia forgetting their original goal. They got sucked in by the allure of Erebonia and all has to offer. It drives home the point of the economic situations of North Ambria and Erebonia. How could the medium size fish deal with the giant size shark that is Erebonia? Lavi and her crew quickly find out that they have no chance against the Ironbloods. Lavi and her friends get to escape but it comes at the cost of their leader.
The fires of war are being doused with gasoline and this is going to put North Ambria in a certain tragedy. Lavi’s commander, Martin Robinson ends up being a prisoner of war. But this was the intended goal of why Lavi was given the mission of infiltrating Erebonia. The higher-ups of North Ambria’s military gave Martin to the shadow forces of Erebonia to set up the war. There was no way that Lavi’s mission was going to be successful. It is just one step of someone or multiple people planning for some mysterious goal. It feels weird how the forces in North Ambria are agreeing with it since they might lose their place in this horrendous future. This setup is similar to the other unsavory parts of the Trails series. It feels right at home.
Just as we were about to see Lavi break out of her shell, she is presented with a new challenge that might do away with all that. They come back from their mission heartbroken and report on it. But it isn’t of much importance to their country and doesn’t seem to care about Martin’s fate. The crew finds it hard to contrast with how their nation feels about this scenario. It takes a while for Talion to show any discomfort about their situation. He challenges Lavi to a duel with the loser having to do one thing the winner wants. Talion wants Lavi to help him go back to Erebonia and rescue Martin. There is no way that Lavi is going to lose this challenge and of course, win. But she gives the win to Talion as a sign that she will help him. This is a different Lavi than the one who has just been going with the wind. But there is no stronger force than the truth. The truth will see you free but what is free in this world? It adds a great flavor to the confused Lavi. It just forces her to see that the world isn’t as black and white as she might think. She has seen the beauty and despair in Erebonia and North Ambria and has to see what role to take in the future.
In Summary
There are way too many people wanting to be heroes but not fully understanding what it means to be a hero. These are the ones that are fun to watch. Their moral compass is almost pointing in the right direction but they just need a little push to face forward. Or they could get a push into the abyss and loss all sense of direction. The Northern War has been needing a reason to take center stage and we finally are getting closer to that reason. The suspense needs to disappear and go full speed toward what we know is coming.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
