Episode 14 - Castle

Andy00 · Post by **Andy00** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 6:38 am

I normally post this at Defragmented, but that seems to be down.

As last we saw, the Twilight Eye had opened. Sora, unseen, Gates into it.

Then B.T. and Krim do. They reach a strange, upside down city with spires and bridges and cyclopean statues. B.T. is surprised, and asks Krim if he knew it existed. He replies that there were rumors, but nothing certain.

Anyhoo, they have to find the "me" mentioned in the mysterious e-mail from the Bulletin Board. Krim mentions it was hinted it would be by the Gott Statue (In The World, every dungeon has a statue with 3 items at the end.) So it's a dungeon like everything elsHee. Krim supposes.

Cut to Mimiru and Bear, who are waiting for Tsukasa...again. Mimiru wonders about Tsukasa. About his strength, and how he can handle things. Bear agrees that Tsukasa does have a certain strength, but grudgingly points out that this kind of strength can turn self-destructive. Whatever their concerns, though, Tsukasa arrives.

BT and Krim are climbing up one of the upside down buildings. BT sees Sora in a building elsewhere, hitting another dead end, and smiles. They get inside the building, and noting it's complicated layout, Krim jokes about how this is an action game and not RPG.

BT mentions to Krim about a "Bug in the System" and Krim mentions that he noticed too. (Sora) they should pick up the pace to lose him.

Meanwhile, Bear and Mimiru explain the plan to Tsukasa. If they give him the words (Bitter Fantasy Mirror World) he'll teleport them to the location. They arrive there, and start hurrying. The bridge they are on isn't stable.

Back to BT and Krim, BT offers to stall Sora, but Krim says he'll handle the bug himself when the time is right.

Mimiru takes a step and falls through the bridge. Bear catches her with one hand. Both he and she are suprised by the sudden feeling of terror they both have, and Tsukasa mentions that there's something terribly wrong with this area. Something evil is there.

Interesting note. Mimiru implies that she's almost able to _feel_ Bear's hand, covered in sweat. (Considering that the only Player to do that is Tsukasa, and his current condition in the real world, this is a bad sign) She's also terrified what would happen if she fell. Bear says that they have to remember she'd log out of the game. He then tries to overcome his fear by embracing his online identity as a Blademaster, and not a "citydweller" He pulls her up.

They wonder whether to go on, and _Tsukasa_ tells them they can go back if they want, but he's going to keep looking for the Key of the Twilight.

Back in Mac Anu, Subaru asks SilverKnight if anyone's asked to see her. SilverKnight empasizes "Anyone?" implying Tsukasa. At Subaru's insistence, he says no.

So he lied about Tsukasa, Mimiru and Bear wanting to contact her. Big surprise there.

Tsukasa is climbing a wall, but slips. Bear catches them. (IE, they all went on)

Back to BT and Krim, upon hearing Sora catching up to them, Krim decides the time to confront him is now. BT moves on, while Krim confronts Sora. They exchange witty banter about shounen opening fight lines, and whether they're needed (Sora's against the stereotypes, and Krim is for) and then move in.

We see a pattern of 4 colors, blue, violet, green and yellow, and 4 tones. We also see rectangular "cuts" in the "camera" of the foreground. These tones, by the way, seem to signify some significant part of the programming of The World and how it affects players. In the first .hack//liminality OAV, there is a girl named Mai who is immune to the coma effect because she has a special type of hearing related to music tones.

There's different lighted corridors, Tsukasa "senses" that one way is the most evil, so Bear decides to go that way. Mimiru's somewhat critical that the "most evil" direction is the right way, but the group consensus is that if the Evil doesn't want them going that way, they should go.

As Sora and Krim fight, Sora taunts Krim about BT. How she led him here, and she's using him to nullify Krim while she goes for the Key of the Twilight. Krim narrows his eyes, but tells Sora that _he_ isn't getting it either.

(Personal note: Given Krim's earlier announcement to Subaru that she would get the Key of the Twlight, this may not be unprecidented.......)

Anyhoo, away from .soap//OPERA for a bit, BT enters a shining room, and see's...something that makes her eyes widen.

She leaves, and encounters Tsukasa and crew. She's cryptic, and tells them that the Key isn't there, the burden of the Seal is too great. They can look if they want, but they should leave as soon as possible.

More tones and shapes in the air.

They enter the room and see...The Broken Man.

The Broken Man is a whitelonghaired fellow in a sitting position, tied to the ceiling in some kind of fleshy binding.

He says numerous cryptic things, and repeats them like a recording. Not quite this order, but similar.

"I love you. I wanted to create my feelings into tangible. I wanted proof you were alive, my beloved. But I failed. I was mistaken. I sent the message when I found out."

Bear and Mimiru try to find out if he knows of the Key of the Twilight, or that he even understands they got his message. He continues.

"I failed as a father. She is my...our hope. In her lies our dreams. Look after her. I put my trust in you. I wasn't enough. Forgive me, beloved"

Tsukasa flashes to The Sleeping Girl, and tells the Broken Man "He found it." For one brief moment, clarity enters his eyes and he smiles. Then it's gone.

Then everything starts to collapse, and they run to the exit. Sprite Ocarina's don't work. (Instant Warp to Exit items) Bear figures where they are isn't _quite_ the same as the game. They get to where they entered the area, but it's a dead end.

The bridge they're on collapses, and Bear falls into the void. Mimiru tries to run after him, but Tsukasa stops her before she too falls.

Then, Maha warps onto the Bridge. He's angry, and summons the Guardian. Tsukasa shouts at them to go away, "Not here!" and pushes Mimiru out of the way and shields her.

The Guadian sends a tendril straight through his back, and Tsukasa screams as we see his Data being Drained in a stream of binary. He falls over grey as stone. Dead.

Elsewhere, Subaru turns around in surprise. She starts to cry, and a feather falls to Earth.

Mimiru stands at Tsukasa's body, and screams in denial.

P.S. Guess what? Next week's episode, there's no new footage at all! It's all recaps! Bee Train is evil.

YashaOokami · Post by **YashaOokami** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 7:09 am

Rofl,so true about next week's episode.But um..I'm just curious,what is the point of this episode summary that you just typed up? Is this for people who missed it or something?

Andy00 · Post by **Andy00** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 7:32 am

Just recapping. <g> I find it helps stimulate discussion. Also put in my own POV here and there.

Untitled9 · Post by **Untitled9** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 1:53 pm

That episode was so sad at the end.

Andy00 · Post by **Andy00** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 1:54 pm

Should I have put this in the .hack//SIGN board? I wasn't sure whether this all counted as "Spoilers" or not.

YashaOokami · Post by **YashaOokami** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 2:43 pm

Should I have put this in the .hack//SIGN board?

Hn...probably should have,but hey,thats for the Mods to decide :/

Rubedo · Post by **Rubedo** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 4:08 pm

Question. That Broken Man, is Harold. Right?

And I luv that episode.

Andy00 · Post by **Andy00** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 5:10 pm

The Broken Man has the same face as Harald, as we see him in the Liminality series.

Whether he _is_ Harald is not clear.

aura_Key_of_the_twilight · Sun Jun 01, 2003 7:42 pm

Andy00 wrote:The Broken Man has the same face as Harald, as we see him in the Liminality series.

Whether he _is_ Harald is not clear.

Broken man is a Harold AI. It's explained in a later episode when bear and Mimiru and Subaru go see him to ask about aura.(The proof of his love).

FireDraconian · Post by **FireDraconian** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 8:38 pm

Why is explained in Mutation.

"I must speak with Morgana. To go where she is, the living flesh poses a hindrance..."

Also, I liked the original banter between Sora and Crim more then the dub. In the dub, Crim comments about whether Sora is still sharp, and Sora says he's normal. Crim says that their normals are completely different. Seemed rather odd to me.

The original was better, IMNSHO, where Crim asks Sora if he is still on the dark side. Sora replies by saying he's neutral, and Crim says that their concepts of neutral are different.

aura_Key_of_the_twilight · Sun Jun 01, 2003 11:13 pm

Why is explained in Mutation.

"I must speak with Morgana. To go where she is, the living flesh poses a hindrance..."

Kinda, but i was referring to who the AI was. Why is REALLY explained in volume 4. =p.

Also, I liked the original banter between Sora and Crim more then the dub. In the dub, Crim comments about whether Sora is still sharp, and Sora says he's normal. Crim says that their normals are completely different. Seemed rather odd to me.

The original was better, IMNSHO, where Crim asks Sora if he is still on the dark side. Sora replies by saying he's neutral, and Crim says that their concepts of neutral are different.

How does america get something bout calling crim a pig headded fool from THAT?! or is that a later thing in the fight. I didn't really pay attention to the dub lol.

FireDraconian · Post by **FireDraconian** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 2:58 am

Well, that part is in the original. I think.

Sora asks if Crim was about to say, "You'll have to go through me" or some other cliche comment. Crim asks what is wrong with that, and Sora insults him, saying he hates people like that.

Rhyste · Post by **Rhyste** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 3:26 am

The problem is that the Harold AI in vol. 4 looks nothing like the Harold AI from //SIGN.

Xeno · Post by **Xeno** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 6:28 pm

I saw that the other night too....I assumed the guy was Harold... he looks similar to the Harold in //Liminality 1 soooo....

aura_Key_of_the_twilight · Mon Jun 02, 2003 6:31 pm

I repeat:

aura_Key_of_the_twilight wrote: Broken man is a Harold AI.

Though i forget why he put it in the game O_o. I think it was just a means to contact Morganna.