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That. Plot. Twist.

It's hard to talk about anything else but the revelation that occurred in this episode.  From where I'm standing, this one of the two points we've been waiting Zetsuen no Tempest to reach.  Now that we've gotten here, the remaining four episodes seem more enticing than ever.  Before I talk about this in more detail, I should probably cover the rest of the episode.

In Zetsuen no Tempest fashion, the episode itself was all build-up material.  All the conversations had between Hakaze and the others was quite the foreshadowing of things to come.  Much like a soldier saying goodbye to his loved ones before the last battle, most of the episode consisted of her saying her farewells.  A hint for events to come in their own right.

The characters may have joked and laughed about her time travelling back - another red herring - but this was always going to be a serious point in the plot.  Since time travel automatically means the application of chaos theory, her going back in time was going to define the ending of the series.  Boy were they right to question whether she would kill Aika or not!

As we got to the reveal, it only hit me at the last second just what Aika was.  In hindsight, I should have suspected her more but to me that's an indicator of how well Zetsuen no Tempest has done in covering the plot twist with all of its distractions.  If you only realise a second before it's confirmed, I'd say that is a job well done for the mystery aspect of the plot. Adding a huge sword to the mix was just a great comedic moment that followed it!

As I mentioned earlier, it's hard to talk about anything other than the plot twist.  It cleared up my own suspicions about Aika, and it has also created interesting options for the plot in last four episodes.  Who will be the one to kill Aika? Will it be Hakaze? Someone else? Either way, Mahiro has vowed to kill someone for this act and carry out his vengeance.

Zetsuen no Tempest just pulled something phenomenal out of its bag.  We're being kept guessing right until the end, and I'm both loving and hating this.  I'll say it again; that plot twist!

Zetsuen no Tempest Episode 21 Preview

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Some random English at the beginning.  Still all about Aika as the title suggests.