Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
Fire Force Season 3 Episode 12 – Quick Summary
In Fire Force Season 3 episode 12, “The Madness of the Distant Past,” in an attempt to save Shinra, Shou, with the help of Arrow, attacked Fairy. Unfortunately, Shou did not understand Fairy’s powers, so Shou’s attacks accomplished nothing. With Shinra continuing to hang unconscious near the massive Titan, can Shou figure out how to attack Fairy? Is that even possible? And why is Inca suddenly talking about falling in love?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Fire Force Season 3 Episode 12
Shou had the good sense to stand up for Arrow. Good for him! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I like it when a villain gets all arrogant and talks down to the protagonists, only to have their words blow up in their face.
Except this talk was among villains. Mostly. Though at this point, can we consider Shou a villain? Or a protagonist?
Anyway, Fairy spent considerable time bad-mouthing Arrow. That alone is enough to annoy me. I like Arrow. Fair thought that Arrow was shooting at him. With his gravity powers, he easily stopped the arrows.
Ah! But she wasn’t shooting at him. She was shooting to provide Shou a means to get up to Fairy. Shou, after all, can’t fly. As far as we know.
So in response to Fairy’s mis-placed taunts, Shou said (01:34), “These shots are flawlessly precise.”
I am pleased that Shou decided to stick up for his protector. She’s had a rough way to go. It’s about time someone recognized her talents.
Favorite Moment from Fire Force Season 3 Episode 12
Con-artists understand religious iconography. Too well. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Holy Evangelion, Batman!
The anime tracking websites like MAL say that this season had 12 episodes. They clearly announced a 13th at the end of this one (22:25). Which is a good thing, but this didn’t end at all.
“What are those beings that look like people?” Shinra asked, when he and Inca had travelled back in time (19:22). Did Fire Force actually flip to meta-mode? Is Shinra reacting to his nature as an anime compared to reality? That’s an interesting idea – if they can stick the landing.
And honestly? If Inca’s right and Shinra falls for her? I’m okay with that. She’s deranged, she’s insanely dangerous, but she’s cute as heck.
Isn’t it astonishing how simple guys can be?
It’s because guys are so simple that we can be misled. Or not. Depends on the simplicity. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
To change the tone completely, I’ll present my favorite moment, then unravel it. My favorite moment is when Yona is recounting the past. Specifically, how he incarnated in this world and began his conquest.
“Humans are quite strange creatures. They love made-up stories,” he said (12:43). I had an idea of where he was going, and he confirmed it when he said (13:22), “In any era, the founder of a religion is simply some human spouting nonsense.”
I have a degree in theology. You might think I’d take exception to this statement. But there’s a serious impediment to me doing so. You see, I’ve lived. You might say that my study of Scripture and the great minds in Western theology gave me an appreciation of what should be. On the other hand, you could just as easily, and accurately, say that my experience with humans showed me how things are.
Background Note: Constantine’s Embrace
They do not match. From my perspective, they haven’t matched since Constantine did his thing.
Yona’s statement reminded me that in almost all cases, the religions humans practice funnel wealth, prestige, and power to a small number, while simultaneously keeping the rest of the adherents in their place. This matches my experience.
I mean, look at how organized religions treat women. I personally know of sects in the USA – supposedly a bastion of freedom – where women must adopt a high, child-like voice to avoid scaring their men-folk. And heaven (literally!) help them if they try to assert any of their basic human rights.
Control the message – or the messenger – and you can subjugate a population. And all the while, they’ll demand you keep it up. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
No. I’m not going to descend into a diatribe of how Yona’s right. I’m going to suggest, and it’s only a suggestion, where he might have gotten it wrong. If you’ve read Western Scriptures, carefully examine the Gospels. Not the Old Testament. Not the other books in the New Testament. Study the Gospels. Read what the carpenter said.
Specifically, notice how uncomfortable he was with titles of power. Notice how he said we should treat one another. Check out Matthew Chapter 5. Or Chapter 6. The final proof? John 13:34.
Delivery: Yona’s Utterly Correct; and Utterly Wrong (Maybe — I Hope)
Those are not the assertions of someone trying to start a religion. Sure, the early Epistles show humans trying to do the human thing and twist power to their advantage. But the Gospels don’t show that. They show the opposite.
Yona’s right. Humans will spout nonsense, and other humans will believe it – for the purposes of concentrating power and subjecting the population. But what the carpenter did? That’s different. That’s the reason I’m not saying Yona was 100% right. It’s also the only reason I’m not an atheist. Because if I didn’t have my theological studies to hold on to, I’d look at Nazism (which was just a secular religion), the people of Jonestown, even modern Red Hats as proof that there is no goodness, no community, and no concern for one another – and religion is simply a tool for the powerful to maintain power.
I’m interested to see where Fire Force goes with this. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Except for the perspective of that pesky carpenter, who contradicts them all.
This isn’t a religious post. It’s a post of someone trying to figure out how to reconcile two incompatible realities and finding that the human language I know just isn’t up to the task. So I have to point to Yona, an Infernal demon, to help. How weird is that?
What did you think of Inca suddenly flirting with Shinra? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Fire Force Season 3 Episode 12: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Enen no Shouboutai: San no Shou • Fire Force Season 3 – Episode 11 discussion
- But Why Tho? REVIEW: ‘Fire Force’ Season 3 Episode 12 — “The Madness of the Distant Past”
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 1: Indomitable Resolve
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 2: Prisoner
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 3: Incarnation of Flame
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 4: Golden Secret
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 5: Chance Meeting with an Arch-Enemy
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6: Beyond Prayer’s End
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 7: Sleeping Truth
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 8: Holy Mother of Darkness / The Knight King’s Great Adventure
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 9: Holy Sword, Resurrected
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 10: Advent
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 11: The Great Kaiju Battlefront
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 12: The Madness of the Distant Past
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 13: Unaware
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 14: With the Sun At His Back
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 15: Birth
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 16: Savior
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 17: At the Center of the World
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 18: Incantation of Destruction
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 19: Those Who Fight Back
- Fire Force Season 3 Episode 20: Where Hope Is
