Record of Grancrest War (Episode 19) - The Awakening of a Noble

Alexis commands his army as a conductor would an orchestra and it’s quite the performance against Lord Dawson, but how will he fare against Erik the Sea King of Nord. Whatever the result, the balance of power will shift!

What happened?

Lord Dawson begs Marrine for support, but she has none to give. It probably doesn’t help that Dawson is a turncoat snake and is quite frankly disposable at this moment. He then tries to switch sides again and is instantly denied. There are but two options available to him – give up his crest and lands or fight and die!

He chooses to fight and rather embarrassingly, his forces are obliterated by Alexis who has a keen insight into strategies of warfare. With that win under his belt, Alexis takes his fleet to Nord to face Erik the Sea King. This time, the battle will be fought at sea, but that doesn’t change Alexis’ insights.

Record of Grancrest War Episode 19 Alexis Douse commanding the battle

The Nord, fearless under the power of Erik’s banner, relentlessly attack, but Alexis has set his trap perfectly and the forces and smashed. Releasing that he has lost Erik uses the full power of his crest and rams Alexis’ ship. He will take Alexis down with him, at all costs. He cuts through the men as if they were made of butter.

With his mind lost to the berserker, Erik keeps moving despite the wounds and loss of blood. However, when he gets close to Alexis, he encountered a foe he wasn’t expecting. Even Alexis seemed shocked. His personal attendant is quite clearly an artist, possibly a chaplain like Irvin. She leaps into action and seems to be enjoying it. She blinds Erik and creates an opening for someone to remove his head. Alexis claims Erik’s crest and evens up the war.

Siluca is quick to make this point to Marrine in a meeting asking that they come to a peaceful conclusion. Marrine is not about to give up. If anything she’s furious that Theo and Siluca somehow got Alexis involved in the war. Siluca hints at the possibility of the Mages’ Association being involved in the Great Hall Tragedy but has nothing more to go on yet. The war goes on!

Record of Grancrest War Episode 19 The Sea King Berserker

What did you think?

Wow! That’s a lot of blood! Seriously though, Erik was mental, but there are documents from history about the berserkers and how they would take hallucinogenic drugs before combat. It would drive them into a rage that would ensure they continue to fight long after a serious wound had been inflicted.

Other than that, the real story in this episode was the emergence of Alexis’ attendant. She is awesome and I’m quite disappointed that I have been unable to find a name for her. The more disturbing factor in that is that she’s unlikely to really feature much more if that’s the case. Damn it, yet another ass-kicking woman that isn’t going to get the time they deserve. Saying that, has anyone seen Aishela lately?

Record of Grancrest War Episode 19 Alexis Doucet's artist

What have you learnt?

Marrine is not about to give up, is she! I know it’s hard having to admit that you made a mistake and it must be even harder when there are those who are willing to call it a day and forget about those errors. Once more, however, it certainly plays into Marrine’s character. I also can’t help but wonder if her Mage, Siluca’s adopted father, has had much of a hand in this. It would be quite the gut punch to Siluca should he have been involved in the Great Hall Tragedy.

For quite a while, I was critical of the amount of time that the screen was not focused on Theo and Siluca. That, of course, was true in this episode, but it felt less like an issue. I think we’ve reached the point where all of the various regions and characters have been given a purpose and now we’re whittling them down to get to the final showdown. It certainly could have been handled a little better, but I’m glad that it’s finally making sense.